Should the British public fund efforts to get UK citizens freed by Islamic (or any other) extremists?

Despite the fact that we are now supposed to live in a risk free environment, most of us know that this is rubbish. You make a choice and anyone who goes to a hard line Islamic state has got to acquaint themselves with the dangers of such a choice. It is their choice only, not ours. Look what happened when Saddam had his 'human shield' of Westerners, including a young boy. Mega publicity for Saddam but what the hell were these people doing there in the first place? Life is largely about risk and if you don't make an informed choice you only have yourself to blame. Gillian Gibbons clearly did not make an informed choice but, having said that, I'm glad that she has been released. No doubt the Islamic delegation was publicly funded though.