Labour will change the law 'as quickly as possible' to deport Shabir Ahmed, MP tells GB News

The Labour Government will move to change legislation "as quickly as possible" to deport grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed, Chris Bryant has told GB News.

Speaking to the People's Channel, the Labour MP made clear that the Government wants the "vile, despicable man" removed from the country, following his release from prison.

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

Ahmed, 73, was released last week 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.

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Pressed by GB News host Stephen Dixon on how quick he can be deported, Mr Bryant admitted he "wishes Shabir Ahmed was not in this country".

He said: "First of all, I think it's really good that this vile, despicable man went to prison. And even though he's out now and he's under fairly strict conditions, I wish he was not in this country. I wish we were able to deport him immediately.

"And I'm glad that Sir Keir Starmer, when he was Director of Public Prosecutions, made sure that this prosecution went ahead and that they were convicted and people went to prison."

Mr Bryant made clear that "all grooming gang issues must be tackled" by the Government.

He said: "We need to tackle all of these grooming issues across the whole of the country, which is why it's good that we've got a grooming inquiry ongoing.

"I'm also glad that we've managed to deport something like 10,000 foreign criminals in the last two years. That's a 36 per cent increase.

"We're doing far better than previous Governments and it's the largest amount in the in the last decade."

Reflecting on the case of Shabir Ahmed, Mr Bryant highlighted the "two challenges" Ms Mahmood faces in having him deported back to Pakistan.

He explained: "I want this man out of the country, but we've got two challenges here. First of all, the law that has been in place since the 1970s which says that you can't deport somebody if they came here before 1973 and they've been here for more than five years.

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"In this particular case, we're looking at changing the law as quickly as we possibly can, but we need to make sure that we don't have unintended consequences that affect perfectly innocent people."

The Labour MP continued: "And then the second bit of the challenge is, of course, it's all very well for us to say we're going to deport somebody - somebody's got to allow that person to go into their country. And in this case, that's Pakistan.

"And Pakistan thus far haven't been very helpful on this. But these are the two pieces of work that we are engaged in and we're trying to work as fast as we possibly can to get the man out of the country.

"Andy Burnham has said exactly the same as Keir Starmer, but we want to get him out of the country."

A senior Pakistani government official has 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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