Shabana Mahmood sets sights on changing law to deport Pakistan-born grooming gang ringleader

Shabana Mahmood is aiming to change the law to allow the ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang to be deported to Pakistan.

The Home Secretary is set to announce on Monday how the Government will change the 1971 Immigration Act, which prevents Shabir Ahmed from being kicked out of Britain.

Ahmed, known to his victims as "daddy", 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 19 years in prison.

The 1971 law forbids the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago.

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However, Ms Mahmood is expected to say on Monday that officials have found a way to get around this clause without jeopardising the right to remain of other Commonwealth citizens, including the Windrush migrants from the Caribbean.

This does not mean Ahmed is guaranteed to be deported, as Pakistan has so far declined to take Ahmed back.

Monday's announcement will take place on the same day as the second reading of her Immigration and Asylum Bill; however, it is not known if the changes will be fast-tracked as separate legislation or incorporated as a Government amendment to the bill.

A source told The Telegraph: "We are confident that there is a fix to deal with the domestic side of it, but it is now down to the FCDO (Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office) negotiations with Pakistan that will decide if (Ahmed) stays in the UK.”

Reports have also suggested Pakistan might not accept Ahmed because he had previously renounced his citizenship.

A senior Pakistani government official said: "Our position is that (the UK) must listen to us too. Both sides need to apply standards. Pakistan cannot be railroaded into agreeing to terms and conditions that are suitable only to the UK.

“These demands (to take back Ahmed) are being made about somebody who is now around 75 and who has spent more than 60 years in your country. How is he our national when he is actually not our national? This is arrogance and a colonial mindset. It is unacceptable to us."

However, a Downing Street spokesman has confirmed it has raised the issue with officials in Islamabad.

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In the Commons this week, MPs from across the House expressed anger at the gang leader’s release, with former minister and Labour MP Graham Stringer saying "we cannot call ourselves a civilised society while Shabir Ahmed is walking the streets of this country".

The MP for Blackley and Middleton South suggested the Government should “put him back in prison and change the law that reduces the tariff for uncivilised wretches like this, so he can be put straight back in prison”.

Home Office Minister Alex Norris said "legally he can’t be detained any more" but pointed to changes in the Sentencing Act which make grooming an "aggravating factor, so vile criminals face being locked up for longer”.

Jonathan Brash, Labour MP for Hartlepool, said: "Isn’t the law change that’s required here to ensure that no individual can ever again be released unless the very next day they are being deported from this country?"

Mr Norris said the Government had demonstrated the ability to remove foreign offenders in significant numbers.

“There are clearly legislative hurdles, all options are on the table, and I ask him and colleagues to give us a little bit of time to consider them and to come forward with plans,” he added.

The UK currently has a returns agreement in place with Pakistan, which has so far accepted two members of the Rochdale grooming gang.

Hamid Safi was deported in 2013 and Mohammed Sajid was deported in 2017, but it is believed they had not renounced their citizenship.

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.

Former Tory minister and MP for Keighley and Ilkley Robbie Moore said changes to the law would likely get support from across Parliament.

He 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 responded: "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."

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