Pressure is mounting on the UK government to change the law so that Shabir Ahmed, the ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, can be deported. The 73-year-old, known to his victims as 'Daddy', was released from prison on July 2 after serving 14 years for multiple rape and sexual offences against young girls. He has been stripped of his British citizenship, leaving him solely as a Pakistani national, but cannot be deported due to a 1971 law that forbids the removal of certain Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago.
Political Response and Proposed Legislation
The Conservative Party has announced it will attempt to amend the Labour government's Immigration and Asylum Bill to close the loophole. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: "It's absolutely disgusting that this man has been let out. He should be deported, and we're going to do everything within our power to make sure that he is, but we're going to need the Government to get behind us. Whether it's Keir Starmer or Andy Burnham, what I want to see is them agreeing with us, so that we can get that amendment through."
Downing Street confirmed that Prime Minister Keir Starmer has asked Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to consider options for ensuring Ahmed's deportation, describing his case as 'particularly heinous'. In a statement, No 10 said: "We are absolutely clear that where foreign nationals commit offences in the UK we will do everything in our power to remove them." Andy Burnham, expected to replace Sir Keir as Prime Minister, has also vowed to 'review all options' to deport the rapist.
Release Conditions and International Challenges
Ahmed is understood to have been freed on licence and must initially live at a bail hostel staffed 24 hours a day, wearing an electronic GPS tag. He is not allowed to go to his last known address on Windsor Avenue in Oldham and is subject to an 'exclusion zone' that prevents him from entering parts of Rochdale. The Times reported that the UK is in talks with Pakistan, but the country would still have to agree to take Ahmed back, which a Home Office source described as 'highly unlikely'. The Telegraph reported that Pakistan would not accept Ahmed because he previously renounced his citizenship.
Ahmed was sentenced to 19 years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court in 2012 as one of nine men convicted of offences against five girls. The case has reignited calls for legal reform to enable the deportation of foreign-born offenders who have lost their British citizenship.
