First, the good news: Law enforcement in Britain is reportedly making “immense progress” in uncovering and dismantling the terrorist network behind last week’s terrorist attack in Manchester that killed 22 people as they left an Ariana Grande concert.

Now, the bad: In unraveling the life of the suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, police discovered that the jihadist had received thousands and thousands of pounds in taxpayer money, which allegedly funded his trips between the U.K. and Libya, and very likely paid for the materials that went into making the bomb.

There is now “growing alarm over the ease with which jihadists are able to manipulate Britain’s welfare and student loans system to secure financing.”

Abedi was given at least £7,000 from the taxpayer-funded Student Loans Company after beginning a business administration degree at Salford University in October 2015.

It is thought he received a further £7,000 in the 2016 academic year even though by then he had already dropped out of the course. Salford University declined to say if it had informed the Student Loans Company that Abedi’s funding should have been stopped.

Abedi reportedly never held a job, yet had the funds to rent three properties in the Manchester area and transfer £2,500 to his younger brother in Libya in the days before the attack.

It is apparently not uncommon for jihadists like Abedi to obtain thousands of pounds in student loans with, of course, no intention of attending school or repaying the loan. The Telegraph reports, “The Government has previously admitted it has no idea how many terrorists could be using taxpayer funded benefits and student loans to finance their activities.”

Let this be a cautionary tale for other democratic nations whose “progressive” immigration and welfare policies have gone so far afield as to actually now fund terrorism within their borders and against their own citizens.