Green Party leader Zack Polanski has said that Shabir Ahmed, the ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, should not be deported from Britain despite his crimes. The comments are likely to prove controversial given the notoriety of the case, in which Ahmed was convicted as the leader of a gang that sexually abused vulnerable girls in Rochdale, and are likely to draw criticism from political opponents and campaigners who have called for foreign nationals convicted of such offences to be removed from the UK.

The article text provided does not include further detail on Polanski's reasoning or the wider context of his remarks, such as any legal or humanitarian grounds he cited. Shabir Ahmed, a Pakistani-born British citizen, was jailed as part of the notorious Rochdale grooming gang case that saw multiple men convicted of child sexual exploitation offences; questions over his immigration status and possible deportation have been a recurring point of public and political debate.