Minister suggests Home Office will use visa threats to deport Rochdale grooming gang leader to Pakistan
Good morning. Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, will be in the Commons for much of the afternoon and she is involved in several of the main news stories in the mix today. MPs are debating the second reading of the immigration and asylum bill, meaning that those Labour MPs opposed to her plans may speak out at some point. (Her most controversial proposal is about extending the amount of time migrant workers have to wait until they can apply for indefinite leave to remain [ILR], and that is not actually part of the bill, but it would be surprising if ILR does not come up.) We are also expecting a Home Office statement about security, in the light of the murder of Ann Widdecombe. As Aletha Adu reports, the police, who have arrested a man on suspicion of murder, have said at this point there is no evidence to suggest the killing was politically motivated. But that has not stopped Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, doing exactly that.
And Mahmood is also due to give MPs details of how she plans to amend the law so that the Rochdale grooming gang leader, Shabir Ahmed, can be deported.
Ahmed is a former British-Pakistani joint national who has now had his British nationality revoked and who has recently been released from jail after serving 14 years of a 22-year sentence for 30 child rape offences. Victims were told that, because his British nationality had been revoked, he would be deported on his release. But in fact that is not possible because under the Immigration Act 1971 there is an exemption for people who, like Ahmed, came to the UK before 1973.
When the government first indicated that it would change the law to get rid of this exemption, the Tories said that, on its own, this would be pointless because Pakistan has said that it will not take Ahmed back anyway. They said the government should stop issuing visas to Pakistan unless it agreed to his deportation.
Today it sounds as if Mahmood will adopt this approach. Catherine Atkinson, the victims minister at the Ministry of Justice, was giving interviews this morning and on the Today programme, when it was put to her that Pakistan was refusing to take Ahmed, she replied:
I understand that the home secretary will be having more to announce on this later today.
She has been absolutely clear that this government will take action to see Shabir Ahmed removed, and we’ve seen the success that she has had when it comes to removals in previous cases.
I think she threatened visa penalties for Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo unless they took back illegal immigrants. And four months later, all three were co-operating.
And, at another point, she said:
There were previous negotiations where countries refused to take back foreign national offenders. And Shabana was able to secure those returns.
Asked if the UK would be willing to return some political dissidents to Pakistan as part of a deal to secure the deportation of Ahmed, Atkinson replied:
I can’t get ahead of what the home secretary will be announcing today, but she has a strong track record on being able to see progress where people previously have said things weren’t possible.
Here is the agenda for the day.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
2.30pm: Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
3.30pm: Officials from the Crown Estate and the Royal Household give evidence to the Commons public accounts committee about the use of Crown Estate properties
After 3.30pm: A Home Office minister is expected to make a Commons statement on the security of politicians, Politico is reporting.
4.40pm: Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, gives evidence to the Commons culture committee about the BBC charter renewal.
Afternoon: Mahmood opens the debate on the second reading of the immigration and asylum bill.
8pm: Andy Burnham takes questions from Labour MPs at a private hustings event.
And Keir Starmer is in Paris today, where he and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, are co-chairing a meeting coalition of the willing group of Ukraine alllies.
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Key events
Minister says there will be ‘no carve-out’ for security services under revised plan for Hillsborough law
Keir Starmer is expected to use his final week in office to push the Hillsborough law through its remaining stages in the Commons after months of delays. Aletha Adu has the story.
In an interview on the Today programme this morning, Catherine Atkinson, the victims minister, confirmed that there would be “no carve-out” for the security services under this arrangement. She said:
There is no carve-out. What has been absolutely clear is that there will be a duty of candour, but it’s the way that it is carried out.
So, in consultation with the security services, we’ve ensured that there are safeguards so that information that’s provided is done so securely and appropriately.
The Hillsborough Law Now campaign has welcomed the news. Last night it posted this on social media.
Our campaign is special. We are not one person, we are for the many by the many. #HillsboroughLawNow team you did this, every one of us has played some part, to every single one of you who has push in any way, big or small. You did this! Congratulations and thank you
We have comments open at the moment but we won’t be allowing comments on the Ann Widdecombe murder, in line with our usual policy of not allowing comments on cases where legal proceedings are active. Please respect this and avoid commenting on this topic. If the moderators judge that this is being ignored, exposing us to a contempt risk, comments will be turned off.
Last week it was reported that almost 80 Labour MPs have written to Andy Burnham urging him to drop the Shabana Mahmood plans requiring migrants, including those already in the UK, to wait 10 years or more to claim indefinite leave to remain (ILR), instead of five years, which is the norm now.
In the Times today Matt Dathan reports on one possible compromise option. He says Mahmood is considering letting migrant workers and their families who have been in the UK since 2021 continue to qualify for ILR after five years – but requiring them to wait longer until they can access benefits that normally come with ILR.
Dathan says:
At present, those with ILR can also access welfare including housing support, universal credit, disability payments, council tax reduction, tax credits and state pension credits.
Under the proposed changes, migrants who gain leave to remain would have to wait further before they could access such benefits, according to two government sources familiar with the plans. The waiting time would also apply to refugees.
Here is some reaction to this from Jonathan Portes, an economics professor and immigration expert.
First & foremost this would remove the main principled objection to the changes – retrospectively changing rules to (at best) keep people who came here legally with 5 year path to settlement in insecure visa status for up to 15 years – and for many effective deportation/remigration. (2/4)
Changing rules/time limits on benefit access ex post is *not* the same thing – we do it all the time (eg my pension age!).
That doesn’t mean it’s a great idea – it will increase poverty, be administratively complex, and various exemptions/workarounds will be needed.
But politically one key advantage.
As HO source implies, drives wedge between those who are (or claim to be) worried about benefit access & those who want “remigration”, whose primary motivation is racism and ethnonationalism.
The reaction to this will therefore be revealing.. (4/4)
Minister suggests Home Office will use visa threats to deport Rochdale grooming gang leader to Pakistan
Good morning. Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, will be in the Commons for much of the afternoon and she is involved in several of the main news stories in the mix today. MPs are debating the second reading of the immigration and asylum bill, meaning that those Labour MPs opposed to her plans may speak out at some point. (Her most controversial proposal is about extending the amount of time migrant workers have to wait until they can apply for indefinite leave to remain [ILR], and that is not actually part of the bill, but it would be surprising if ILR does not come up.) We are also expecting a Home Office statement about security, in the light of the murder of Ann Widdecombe. As Aletha Adu reports, the police, who have arrested a man on suspicion of murder, have said at this point there is no evidence to suggest the killing was politically motivated. But that has not stopped Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, doing exactly that.
And Mahmood is also due to give MPs details of how she plans to amend the law so that the Rochdale grooming gang leader, Shabir Ahmed, can be deported.
Ahmed is a former British-Pakistani joint national who has now had his British nationality revoked and who has recently been released from jail after serving 14 years of a 22-year sentence for 30 child rape offences. Victims were told that, because his British nationality had been revoked, he would be deported on his release. But in fact that is not possible because under the Immigration Act 1971 there is an exemption for people who, like Ahmed, came to the UK before 1973.
When the government first indicated that it would change the law to get rid of this exemption, the Tories said that, on its own, this would be pointless because Pakistan has said that it will not take Ahmed back anyway. They said the government should stop issuing visas to Pakistan unless it agreed to his deportation.
Today it sounds as if Mahmood will adopt this approach. Catherine Atkinson, the victims minister at the Ministry of Justice, was giving interviews this morning and on the Today programme, when it was put to her that Pakistan was refusing to take Ahmed, she replied:
I understand that the home secretary will be having more to announce on this later today.
She has been absolutely clear that this government will take action to see Shabir Ahmed removed, and we’ve seen the success that she has had when it comes to removals in previous cases.
I think she threatened visa penalties for Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo unless they took back illegal immigrants. And four months later, all three were co-operating.
And, at another point, she said:
There were previous negotiations where countries refused to take back foreign national offenders. And Shabana was able to secure those returns.
Asked if the UK would be willing to return some political dissidents to Pakistan as part of a deal to secure the deportation of Ahmed, Atkinson replied:
I can’t get ahead of what the home secretary will be announcing today, but she has a strong track record on being able to see progress where people previously have said things weren’t possible.
Here is the agenda for the day.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
2.30pm: Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
3.30pm: Officials from the Crown Estate and the Royal Household give evidence to the Commons public accounts committee about the use of Crown Estate properties
After 3.30pm: A Home Office minister is expected to make a Commons statement on the security of politicians, Politico is reporting.
4.40pm: Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, gives evidence to the Commons culture committee about the BBC charter renewal.
Afternoon: Mahmood opens the debate on the second reading of the immigration and asylum bill.
8pm: Andy Burnham takes questions from Labour MPs at a private hustings event.
And Keir Starmer is in Paris today, where he and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, are co-chairing a meeting coalition of the willing group of Ukraine alllies.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
