A Home Office minister has indicated the Government could consider emergency legislation to deport a Rochdale grooming gang leader after his release from prison last week. Shabir Ahmed, now 73, who was known to his victims as 'Daddy', has already been stripped of his British citizenship - leaving him with only Pakistani nationality. However, he cannot be deported due to a 1971 law that forbids the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago.
Ahmed's release sparks political outcry
Ahmed was released on July 2 after serving 14 years since his conviction in 2012 for rape and sexual offences against girls, some as young as 12. He had been sentenced to nine years in prison. Health secretary James Murray told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “I want this man out of the country, I think we all do.” He added: “I know that this is a job for the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary to work out the exact way of getting him deported.”
All options on the table, says minister
Home Office minister Alex Norris has now said 'all options are on the table' after he came under pressure from the Conservatives to throw Ahmed out of the UK. Despite the law, Norris said the Government would not give up in its efforts to deport Ahmed due to his 'heinous' crimes. Conservative frontbencher Katie Lam had urged the Government to adopt an amendment to the Immigration and Asylum Bill, put forward by shadow home secretary Chris Philp. The Bill is next due to be debated on July 13 in the Commons.
Cross-party support for law change
Tory former minister Robbie Moore said changes to the law would likely get support from across Parliament. Mr Moore said: “When will the minister be bringing forward this legislation, so that we in this House can vote on it and make sure that this individual that has caused heinous crimes across Rochdale is deported?” Mr Norris said: “I can only be as clear as to say that all of those options are on the table. He raises important ways too. But it is never quite as easy, I think, as he’s put there. But I know of his motivations, I think I share them myself, and I’m sure at the right moment he’ll be keen to support us in our work.”
Lam condemns 'sickening' loophole
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Lam had said: “Ahmed has committed some of the most despicable crimes imaginable. As the ring leader of Rochdale grooming gang, he was responsible for grooming, trafficking and raping children as young as 12 years old.” She added: “The idea that he might be allowed to stay in this country because of a clause in a decades-old law that was designed for a completely different time and context is not just absurd, but sickening.” She said reports by parole officers in 2023 that Ahmed posed a 'very high risk of serious harm to children', meant changes to the law are needed. She said: “How can he possibly be allowed to walk the streets again? When the law produces an outcome which is so clearly, so wrong, the law must be changed and the Government must now change this law to make sure that we can remove Ahmed.”
Government explores deportation options
Mr Norris replied: “I will look closely, as we always do, at all amendments and new clauses put forward by the opposition and all honourable and right honourable colleagues to legislation, or other ideas as they come forward. I couldn’t be clearer, all options are on the table at this stage.” He added that the Conservative Party had not previously amended the Act when it was in power, and said: “Nevertheless, we are where we are, and the spirit in which she offers that support I think is welcome and I think the public will want to see Parliament come together to make sure that in cases where people commit really serious crimes, we’re able to remove them from the country.”
The Government has been examining ways to deport Ahmed since his release last week. The 1971 law forbids the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago. Reports have also suggested Pakistan might not accept Ahmed because he had previously renounced his citizenship. However, a Number 10 spokesperson has confirmed it has raised the issue with officials in Islamabad. Mr Norris had earlier said he regretted that Ahmed had not already been deported, and said: “The fact that this has not so far been possible with an individual responsible for such heinous crimes as Shabir Ahmed is unacceptable. I can assure the House that we have not given up, and we will not.”
