Shabana Mahmood announces legal change in bid to deport Rochdale grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed - but it will take a year to come into effect

By DAVID BARRETT, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR Published: 20:01, 13 July 2026 | Updated: 20:01, 13 July 2026 Labour will change immigration laws in a bid to allow the deportation of offenders convicted of serious organised crime such as Rochdale grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the measures were designed to remove the ‘vile’ paedophile. But she admitted it ‘does not guarantee his removal from this country’ because his home nation Pakistan is refusing to take him back. The changes also expected to take around a year to come into force. Under the Immigration Act 1971 foreign-born nationals are exempt from deportation if they arrived here before 1973 and have lived in the UK for at least five years. Ms Mahmood’s amendment to the 55-year-old law will apply to a range of offenders including human traffickers, terrorists, child sex gangs, war criminals or those who pose a national security threat. But it will not necessarily apply to criminals convicted of individual offences of murder, manslaughter, rape or serious assaults. Officials said it would instead involve a test of ‘exceptional severity’ and will apply to ‘very small numbers’ of criminals. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood speaking in the House of Commons on Monday Ms Mahmood told MPs: ’In response to the widely reported case of the vile grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed our amendment will provide the Home Secretary with a new power to disapply Section 7 of the Immigration Act 1971 for serious criminals. ‘This provides protections for long-term UK residents but, clearly, should not be acting as a bar against removal in cases like that of Shabir Ahmed. ‘It is important to note this does not guarantee his removal from this country. ‘The Foreign Secretary and I continue to explore all avenues to pursue a deportation.’ Officials said the amendment was ‘only the first step to removing Ahmed’ which was ‘now dependent on Pakistan agreeing to take him’. Earlier, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman refused to rule out the possibility of deporting Ahmed to a third country if he cannot be sent to Pakistan. Ahmed, 73, was freed from jail earlier this month after serving 14 years of a 22-year sentence for multiple rape and sexual offences against young girls. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp urged Ms Mahmood to bring forward emergency legislation to change the 1971 Act when Parliament returns from its summer break in September. He told MPs the Government’s current proposals would not take effect for a year and ‘there is not a moment to lose’. Last week Mr Philp also warned that Ahmed will ‘almost certainly’ lodge – and most likely win - human rights claims to remain in Britain in the face of any new bid to deport him. Ahmed has previously used the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in an unsuccessful bid to have his convictions overturned. He has already been stripped of his British citizenship and is reported to have also renounced his Pakistani citizenship. But Pakistani officials last week described the British Government’s efforts to send Ahmed back as ‘arrogance and a colonial mindset’. Its unwillingness to comply could lead the British Government to impose penalties on the Commonwealth country, such as reducing or stopping the issuing of UK visas to its nationals. Another option could be withholding the annual £50million in foreign aid currently paid by Britain to Pakistan. In the Commons the Home Secretary refused to answer questions about separate proposals she put forward last year to make foreign nationals wait longer to secure ‘indefinite leave to remain’ in Britain. The measures are not part of the current immigration Bill and ministers are due to publish further details later in the year. Incoming PM Andy Burnham’s team has indicated he will support Ms Mahmood’s reforms. But 80 Labour backbenchers have written to Mr Burnham urging him to change the policy to stop it applying to 1.6million migrants who are already in the country. The proposals may be watered down so that migrants already here are not required to wait 10 years for so-called ‘settled’ status – up from the current five. But it has been reported the Home Office may impose other delays on claiming benefits such as universal credit, housing support or the state pension. The Immigration and Asylum Bill, which had its second reading in the Commons on Monday night, include scrapping the lower immigration courts and replacing them with a new independent body. The Bill will also make some minor changes to how the ECHR can be used in immigration cases.