Pakistan Blocks Deportation of Freed Rochdale Grooming Ringleader
Pakistan has blocked the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, the Rochdale grooming gang ringleader released from prison this week after 14 years, prompting demands for the Government to change the law to remove him. Ministers are examining amendments to 1971 nationality legislation and say officials are “exploring every option”. Rochdale’s MP Paul Waugh urged the Government to do “everything in its power” to deport grooming-gang offenders, and Andy Burnham said “nothing is off the table”.
Ahmed has frustrated removal for years by contesting his Pakistani citizenship, which is why attention has turned to amending decades-old nationality law — an extraordinary step whose consequences would outlast this case. Two national front pages campaigned on the story this morning, making it the defining Home Office test of the transition: whatever the caretaker government starts, the incoming Burnham administration must finish. The whistleblower who first exposed the Rochdale scandal said the release leaves victims terrified, pointing to a stretched probation service. Watch the Home Secretary’s review, the talks with Islamabad, and whether emergency legislation is drafted.