'Very difficult' to understand why Bradford sisters would travel to Syria, says outspoken former MP

Former Keighley MP Ann Cryer does not mince her words in her analysis of why three Bradford-born sisters might consider travelling to a war zone partly controlled by Islamic State extremists.

Her best guess is that their lives in Bradford were miserable and that they may have been encouraged to go by their brother, who is reportedly fighting with extremists there.

The outspoken former Labour MP said the lives of Muslim women in Bradford and Keighley had vastly improved since the days she campaigned against forced marriages in the 1990s.

However, she believes old-fashioned conservative thinking still persists within families and may go some way to explain why the sisters apparently decided to leave behind their old lives.

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These "outdated cultures" may lead some women to flee, although she admits this is guesswork.

"What is happening in their lives to make it so attractive to go to a dreadful place? It may just be that their family life was very traditional.

"I have thought for a while that women may be escaping something rather than going to something."

She added: "Were their lives damned miserable? It must not have been happy."

Mrs Cryer, 75, who lives in Shipley and stood down at the 2010 General Election, has been closely involved in Muslim community issues for many years.

She finds it "very difficult" to comprehend why a British citizen would identify with Islamist extremism and believes that prominent Muslims must speak out as clearly as possible against "cruel and offensive" ideas.

"It's completely beyond me why people born and brought up (in the UK) take even the smallest interest in the jihadists who hold sway in parts of Syria. I'm amazed they are not horrified by IS.

Sisters Sugra, Zohra and Khadija Dawood

"Clearly, there are a few people attracted by it. It's an adventure. I think the girls thought it was an adventure."

She favours a range of strategies to rid the UK of extremism, including encouraging Muslim women and those in leadership roles to speak out.

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"We have got to work with white and Asian communities to defeat what we all agree is obnoxious."

Mrs Cryer is greatly worried about the plight of the women's nine children.

"They have been taken to a place where they might end up dead."

The debate about how to combat extremism was raised yesterday in the Commons by shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn who raised the case of Talha Asmal, a 17-year-old from Dewsbury thought to have become a suicide bomber for IS in Iraq.

Mr Benn asked what the Government was doing to prevent young people from travelling to Iraq and Syria.

Chancellor George Osborne replied: "I think everyone in this House is shocked that a 17-year-old citizen of our country can become radicalised and become apparently a suicide bomber on the other side of the world.

"Of course we also have those distressing reports of the families from Bradford. So we are taking a number of steps - first of all we want to work with schools, mosques and other community institutions to help prevent radicalisation. There is a new statutory duty to do that.

"Second, we are working with the airlines, including getting in place those agreements you talk about, and providing the training at the borders to stop people travelling to countries like Syria and, indeed, removing their passports if they attempt to do so.

The 12 members of the Dawood family thought to have travelled to Syria

"But third, and this will be an issue in this Parliament, we also need to make sure our security and intelligence services have the powers they need to track people who are trying to get back into this country, and I look forward to cross-party support on that issue."

Mr Benn noted the lack of reply on liaison with Turkish authorities, adding it was a "very serious matter".

He added: "We know from some time there has been a number of young people groomed for travel to Syria and Iraq. Last November the Intelligence and Security Committee criticised the government for not giving the Prevent programme sufficient priority and concluded, and I quote, 'counter radicalisation programmes are not working'.

"Why do you think this is?"

Mr Osborne said he did not accept all of the conclusions, adding: "I think in the past there was a confusion between the programmes that supported integration and the programmes that tried to prevent radical extremism.

"As a result, certain organisations got money that should never have got public money under the last government. So the Prevent programme is doing its work but we have passed a very important law in this Parliament that now ensures there is a statutory duty on these public authorities, like schools, like universities, like the police, to develop the Prevent strategy and the counter radicalisation strategy.

"Where I think we agree - and let's after all on an issue like this try and find areas where we agree - is we need to do more in these communities to prevent this radicalisation."

Mr Benn sought confirmation Prevent was being rolled out in places like Dewsbury, including training for teachers and other public sector workers covered by the new duty.

Mr Osborne said: "I can confirm that training is taking place and indeed we have provided additional resources."

The Chancellor said the new Extremism Bill would go further in disrupting terror groups.