UK May Rewrite Deportation Law But Pakistan Signals It Won't Take Rochdale Gang Leader

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood tabled an amendment on July 13 to strip away 1971 protections preventing the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, convicted ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang. Yet Pakistan has indicated it would likely refuse his return. The legal change may not resolve the case: without Pakistan's acceptance, the government could gain deportation authority while Ahmed remains in the UK, leaving a politically fraught situation unresolved by legislation alone.