Shabir Ahmed faces calls to be deported (Image: MEN Media)
Shabana Mahmood will change the law so the ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang can be deported.
The Home Secretary will on Monday confirm plans to close a loophole which prevents predator Shabir Ahmed from being removed.
But Pakistan is still refusing to take Ahmed back, putting pressure on the Foreign Office to change their minds.
A source said: “We are confident that there is a fix to deal with the domestic side of it, but it is now down to the FCDO [Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office] negotiations with Pakistan that will decide if [Ahmed] stays in the UK.”
Paul Waugh, MP for Rochdale, told the Express: “I’ve been urging ministers to act quickly to change the law to allow the authorities to boot this vile child rapist out of Britain.
“If the Home Secretary does next week announce she is closing the loophole that prevents his deportation to Pakistan, I and my constituents would strongly welcome that.
“This would be the first step in giving victims the hope they never have to face him again. The next step is to make crystal clear to Pakistan that they should take him back.”
Ahmed hid in the back of a taxi as he was whisked out of HMP Leeds to a taxpayer-funded bail hostel.
The pervert is currently protected by the Immigration Act 1971, which exempts Commonwealth citizens who arrived in Britain before 1973 from removal.
But Pakistan has so far refused to accept its nationals.
A senior Pakistani government official told The Telegraph: “Our position is that [the UK] must listen to us too. Both sides need to apply standards. Pakistan cannot be railroaded into agreeing to terms and conditions that are suitable only to the UK.
“These demands [to take back Ahmed] are being made about somebody who is now around 75 and who has spent more than 60 years in your country.
“How is he our national when he is actually not our national? This is arrogance and a colonial mindset. It is unacceptable to us.”