Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp’s amendment to close the Section 7 loophole came days before Labour’s own plan, and the shadow home secretary says the government has now adopted it.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to announce on Monday how the government will change the law to try to deport Shabir Ahmed, ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang — a move Conservatives say only came after weeks of pressure led by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, who drafted his own amendment to fix the problem before Labour had a plan of its own.
Philp’s amendment targets Section 7 of the Immigration Act 1971, the decades-old provision that currently shields Ahmed from removal because he arrived in Britain before 1973 and has lived here more than five years — even though Ahmed had his British citizenship stripped after his conviction. Philp pushed for the amendment to be adopted into the government’s Immigration and Asylum Bill and argued that only emergency legislation, capable of changing the law within weeks, would be fast enough — rejecting a suggestion from a government source that closing the loophole could take up to a year.
Following news of Mahmood’s planned announcement, Philp said: “Shabir Ahmed’s crimes were vile and he must be urgently deported back to Pakistan. The Conservatives led the calls for his deportation, developing a detailed plan to change the law. I am glad Labour have finally U-turned and agreed to do what we proposed days ago. They must do this in emergency legislation so we don’t lose any more time.”
The case against Ahmed
Ahmed, 73, was jailed for 22 years in 2012 after being convicted of 30 offences, including rape and other child sexual offences against girls as young as 12 or 13. He was released on licence earlier this month after serving around 14 years, fitted with a GPS tag, placed under an exclusion zone covering Rochdale, and housed in 24-hour staffed accommodation. His release prompted anger from victims, local residents and MPs across the political spectrum, including Labour’s Graham Stringer, who told the Commons “we cannot call ourselves a civilised society while Shabir Ahmed is walking the streets of this country.”
Mahmood’s Monday announcement is expected to coincide with the second reading of her Immigration and Asylum Bill. It is not yet confirmed whether the change will be introduced as separate emergency legislation, as the Conservatives have demanded, or folded into the existing Bill.
Pakistan still refusing to cooperate
Changing UK law does not guarantee Ahmed’s removal. Pakistan has so far declined to accept him, with officials arguing he had already renounced his Pakistani citizenship and objecting to Britain’s approach as, in their words, reflecting a “colonial mindset.” Dr Farzana Shaikh of Chatham House has said the two governments are engaged in fraught back-channel talks, complicated by separate Pakistani requests for the extradition of two political dissidents living in the UK.
Philp has said the government should go further, telling broadcasters that Labour should suspend visas and foreign aid to Pakistan unless it takes back Ahmed and other citizens who are criminals or in Britain illegally, adding that the same approach should apply to any country that refuses to take back its own nationals. The UK provides Pakistan with roughly £50 million in foreign aid annually, and government sources have said visa restrictions have not been ruled out as a “nuclear option.”
Others weigh in
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has also called for Ahmed’s deportation and said his party would repeal Section 7 outright if in government, alongside a broader visa suspension for Pakistani nationals. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has urged ministers to exhaust every legal avenue.
The government has not credited the Conservatives’ proposal directly. Victims Minister Catherine Atkinson pointed instead to Mahmood’s record on securing removals from Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo through visa-sanction threats, saying the government had “not ruled anything out” on how it would legislate. A Downing Street spokesperson said this week that “every available option” was being explored, including direct talks with Islamabad.
Whatever the government’s account of its own thinking, the sequence is clear: Philp’s amendment was on the table before Mahmood’s plan, and the Conservatives argue that is why ministers are now acting.
And the Albanian drug importer, who won’t ve deported, vexause it will upset his wife!
Also, remember, the grooming gangs boss, hasnt gone yet, and the Government has just signed off another multimillion aid package to Pakistan!