Overview
- Shabir Ahmed, the convicted Rochdale grooming gang ringleader, was moved from a Lancashire hostel after its location was posted on social media and local politicians and residents complained.
- Ahmed was released on licence earlier this month and remains under strict supervision that includes electronic GPS tagging, exclusion zones, 24-hour staffed accommodation and lifetime placement on the sex offenders register.
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has tabled an amendment to disapply Section 7 of the 1971 Immigration Act for defined serious criminals, with the threshold tied to the power to deprive citizenship.
- Deportation cannot proceed without another country agreeing to receive him, and Pakistan has publicly declined to accept Ahmed while disputing the UK’s claim about his nationality.
- Ministers say they are considering diplomatic levers such as visa restrictions to secure returns, and the dispute has reignited anger from victims and local leaders and scrutiny of long‑standing removal rules.