'Should have been done 14 years ago!' Maggie Oliver scolds Labour's 'knee-jerk' reaction to deporting Shabir Ahmed

Grooming gangs whistleblower Maggie Oliver has hit out at successive governments for failing to deport Rochdale ringleader Shabir Ahmed.

Speaking to GB News, Ms Oliver argued Ahmed "should have been deported 14 years ago" when he was convicted of his heinous crimes.

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 deported back to Pakistan.

Ahmed, 73, was released last week after serving 14 years for 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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Reacting to Ms Mahmood's push to change legislation in order to have Ahmed deported, Ms Oliver told GB News: "My take on it is that this should have been done 14 years ago when he was sent to prison initially.

"Again, too little, too late. Knee jerk reaction to a public outcry about what is a national scandal. They're reactive again rather than proactive."

Ms Oliver argued successive Governments had hoped "this case would fade away like all the others".

Having worked on the Ahmed case herself, she explained: "What we should be seeing is Government leading on these things instead, and this isn't just about the Labour Government, this is about Conservatives as well. They were in power for many years.

"What I think is going on here is that when this Rochdale case, the case that I resigned over, Shabir Ahmed actually went through two trials. He was sentenced to 22 years on one trial and 19 years to serve in prison on the other. That's 41 years, and he's out in 14 years.

"I think that the Government and the politicians all believe that this case would fade away like all the others, and when this man was released, there would be no outcry."

Ms Oliver stressed the case involving Ahmed is "just one abuser" out of "thousands up and down the country".

She said: "He is an example of what is going on in every town and city all around the country. This is not one abuser, this is thousands, and the victims affected are thousands and thousands.

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"I think what the Rochdale case is doing, it is very clearly educating the country on the huge failures in the system."

Criticising the Home Secretary, Ms Oliver argued the legislation blocking Ahmed's deportation is "50 years old" and could have been changed many years ago.

She told GB News: "We've got Shabana Mahmood saying we're going to change the law, this is a 50-year-old law. It should have been changed many years ago.

"But at the very latest, when it was announced that Shabir Ahmed and other abusers from Rochdale were going to be deported at the end of the sentence, we are now seeing that it is possible to change laws if they want to.

"But in relation to this, we're still only halfway towards ensuring that he is deported because Pakistan have said they're not going to accept him back. That's when we will really see whether there is determination to really do something about this."

Ms Oliver concluded Ahmed has shown "no remorse" and was given a "slap on the wrist" when he "should have served 41 years" for his crimes.

She said: "14 years for what he did is a slap on the wrist. He refused to do any rehabilitation or sexual offences courses in prison. Only two years ago, probation or parole refused to release him because they considered he was still a danger to the community.

"Shabir Ahmed should be serving 41 years, in my opinion, rather than invest all this money in keeping him in a hostel. Make him serve 41 years. I speak to victims and survivors every day - they don't serve 14 years and then pick up their lives, they carry this for the rest of their lives."

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