Key facts
- UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will announce legal steps to deport Shabir Ahmed.
- Shabir Ahmed is a Rochdale grooming gang leader released from prison.
- The government plans to close a legal loophole preventing deportation of certain Commonwealth citizens.
- Shabana Mahmood cautioned that the deportation's success is not guaranteed.
- Shabir Ahmed was stripped of his British citizenship but could not be deported due to a pre-1973 arrival loophole.
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to outline legal measures aimed at deporting Shabir Ahmed, a leader of a grooming gang in Rochdale who has recently been released from prison. The government is moving to close a legal loophole that prevents the deportation of citizens from certain countries who arrived in the UK before 1973, even if they have committed serious crimes. Ahmed, who served 14 years for child sexual offenses and was stripped of his British citizenship, cannot be deported to his native Pakistan due to this loophole.
Andy Burnham is expected to support proposed changes to immigration law that would facilitate Ahmed's deportation. However, Mahmood has cautioned that the success of the deportation attempt is not guaranteed and is dependent on Pakistan agreeing to accept him.
The grooming gangs scandal, which dates back 20 years, involves groups primarily of Pakistani heritage targeting vulnerable children. The 2012 trial of the Rochdale gang, which led to Ahmed's conviction, brought the issue to national attention. Elon Musk had previously criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his handling of such cases when Starmer was director of public prosecutions.