Gavin Williamson: I don't want ISIS 'Beatles' returned to Britain for trial

The Defence Secretary said Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh 'have turned their back on British ideas, British values'.

“Do I want them back in the United Kingdom?” he asked. “No, I don’t.”

The Londoners were part of a four-man execution squad dubbed 'The Beatles' because of their British accents.

They were captured by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in advances that retook all of the remaining major ISIS strongholds in Syria.

Speaking in Brussels, South Staffordshire MP Mr Williamson said: "They turned their back on Britain when they left Britain to cause destruction and commit their hateful crimes.

"We believe that justice should be done locally and they are no longer part of Britain. British people do not want to see them returned."

He added: "I have made it absolutely clear that what we want to see is we want to see people dealt with on a local basis.

"We have had a great success in Iraq and Syria in degrading the Daesh threat, making sure that instead of holding vast swathes of territory that they have been reduced and they have been destroyed and so many of them have actually been captured.

"This is something I think everyone welcomes.

"The amount of hurt that they have brought and the amount of destruction that they have caused in both Iraq and Syria but also Britain has been vast."

However, their fate is the subject of a mounting diplomatic row, with US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis insisting terrorists’ 'countries of origin' must take responsibility.

Mr Williamson has previously argued that British terrorists should be hunted down and killed.

“A dead terrorist can’t cause any harm to Britain,” he said in December. “I do not believe that any terrorist, whether they come from this country or any other, should ever be allowed back into this country.”

He and Mr Mattis spoke on Wednesday morning but officials have not yet announced the results of their discussions.

The US is coordinating information on captured foreign fighters with governments in the broad anti-Isis coalition, and American defence officials say they 'generally expect these detainees to return to their country of origin for disposition'.

But Kotey and Elsheikh are believed to be among the dual nationals who joined ISIS and have had their British citizenship removed for the 'public good'.