The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is not personally responsible for the mess that the government finds itself in with regard to the release from prison of Shabir Ahmed, who was a ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, earlier this month. Ahmed, who has spent most of his life in the UK, was stripped of British citizenship soon after his conviction for rape and sex trafficking in 2012.
His victims were led to believe when the Tories were in power that he would be deported to Pakistan on his release. They and their supporters now want this pledge to be honoured. The home secretary has announced that the law will be changed to enable this to happen. Whether or not she keeps her job under Andy Burnham, the signs point to the deportation going ahead if Pakistan’s government can be persuaded to give up demanding the return of Pakistani dissidents as its price.
