Yesterday, Andy Burnham made an important intervention when he demanded that ministers do everything possible to deport Shabir Ahmed, the ringleader of a Pakistani grooming gang. Reports earlier this week suggested that Ahmed, who has been convicted of 30 child rape offences, could not be deported due to a legal loophole in the 1971 Immigration Act.

Burnham’s comments are a promising indication of the hard stance he could take on grooming gangs. After all, he is likely to become prime minister in a few short weeks, and he will have significant power over future policy towards grooming gang offenders. But what matters is whether he actually follows through on his rhetoric and whether victims are protected in the future.

I attended part of a trial in Liverpool Crown Court, when nine men stood charged with the most horrific offences against a group of five girls. One of those men was Ahmed. All the men who appeared in court were responsible for horrendous crimes against the victims, but he was clearly one of the most dangerous.

It has been reported that, upon release, Ahmed will be compelled to adhere to strict curfews. But what many don’t seem to understand about these men is that they are organised criminals. They operate like the Italian mafia, with connections around the country and safe houses everywhere.

I have interviewed and am still in contact with some of Ahmed’s victims. They are terrified of him, and with good reason. Some tell me they’ve had takeaways delivered by their former abusers, freshly released from prison. One said she had ended up in the back of his taxi, not knowing he was back on the same rank from which he used to pick her up. Another saw her rapist, who was never even convicted, in the aisle of her local supermarket.

Fiona Goddard, a grooming gang survivor from Bradford, told me that her abusers are being released from prison years earlier than expected, because the Government has decided that tagging them is safe. “There are victims all over the country facing this exact thing and are all terrified,” she says. “I’ve not left the house in days and have to spend my nights watching for my house being petrol-bombed.”

This is why Labour’s next step is so important. Until it became obvious that the country was against him, Keir Starmer was too timid to go against the advice of his civil servants and support a statutory inquiry. Burnham is at least providing promising rhetoric on grooming gangs. If “nothing is off the table” when it comes to Shabir Ahmed, then Burnham should carry this through to all those convicted of offences related to grooming gangs.

Ordinary citizens want answers from publicly funded services and local authorities. What exactly did they cover up? Why? For how long? From my investigations going back to the early 2000s, I know that social workers, health professionals, and police officers were complicit in trying to keep a lid on who the perpetrators were and the extent of the abuse of these girls.

Burnham presents himself as a man of the people. To retain any credibility on this issue, he must show that he supports the working-class girls — and their families — who are predominantly the victims of these gangs. Manchester and its surroundings were home to countless abusers. Indeed, Greater Manchester Police was forced to publicly apologise for the disgraceful way many of these victims were treated.

If Burnham is to follow through with his rhetoric on grooming gangs, he needs to send out a message. A government run by the Makerfield MP has to find a way to deport these sadistic criminals, so that those harmed by them no longer need to live in fear.

---

Julie Bindel is an investigative journalist, author, and feminist campaigner. Her latest book is Lesbians: Where are we now? She also writes on Substack.

bindelj

---