Lord Ahmed: Victim calls for peer to lose title

The peer was convicted under his real name, Nazir Ahmed, in January

A victim of convicted sex offender Lord Ahmed of Rotherham has demanded the government strip him of his title.

The former Labour peer was found guilty in January of a serious sexual assault against a boy and the attempted rape of a young girl in the 1970s.

Only an Act of Parliament can remove his title, but none currently exists.

"That title is bestowed upon people that have got some honour, some dignity, and he's got none of that," the male victim told BBC Newsnight.

The government said Ahmed had resigned from the Lords and was "no longer a member of the legislature".

During a Sheffield Crown Court trial, jurors heard Ahmed carried out the repeated sexual assaults as a teenager in Rotherham.

The male victim, known as Mr B to protect his anonymity, said the abuse had started when he was a young child and he had spent much of his life since trying to "to bury it".

"You try to lead a normal life, but you can never lead a normal life," he said.

• Debate call over stripping sex abuse peer's title

• Call to strip child sex abuse peer of title

• Former peer guilty of child sex offences

Ahmed, who was tried under his real name Nazir Ahmed, is due to be sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday.

He resigned from the House of Lords in 2020, days before he could be expelled over the findings of a conduct committee that concluded he had sexually and emotionally exploited a vulnerable woman. He stepped down from the Labour Party in 2013.

Despite both investigations and his conviction, he will retain his title.

"I'm demanding the government take that peerage away from him," said Mr B.

"He's a convicted paedophile and there's no justice in that."

The call is being supported by crossbench peer Lord Carlisle, the charity Muslim Women's Network UK and Conservative Rother Valley MP Alexander Stafford.

Only an Act of Parliament can remove a peer's title

Lord Carlisle said it was "offensive" and "illogical" that Ahmed could retain his title and that the system needed updating to retain the House of Lord's credibility.

"We need to be able to expel from their titles as well as from the House, those who have been convicted of serious criminal offences," he said.

Mr Stafford, whose constituency includes parts of Rotherham, agreed the law needed overhauling and has urged the government to take action.

The charity Muslim Women's Network UK has written to Lord Chancellor Dominic Raab calling for action.

Co-chair Shaista Gohir said it was wrong that Ahmed could continue to use his title and its associations of privilege.

"Once he's completed his sentence, he could go up and down the country, speak at events, use that title to influence," she said.

"What kind of message does that send to victims that somebody that's committed such an appalling crime can continue to use that privilege and that title?"

Lord Ahmed, pictured arriving at court in late November 2021 resigned from the House of Lords in November 2020

Mr B said reporting Ahmed had been daunting, and he was initially put off due to his abuser's "political clout" and his doubts about securing a conviction.

"He knows powerful people, he knows prime ministers," he said.

"I was quite worried in terms of the consequences of going to make a complaint against him in terms of what he might be able to do to me."

The trial heard he was encouraged to come forward by the female complainant in the case, who urged him to "seek justice for the little boy who could not protect himself".

"If I can challenge somebody that sits in the House of Lords as a peer, and I can win, then there is hope for everybody," Mr B said.

"I think I can move on from this dirty little secret that I've been carrying for decades.

"I can sleep at night now."

In response to a question about Ahmed, a spokesperson said the government was "committed to helping the police and local agencies prevent and disrupt this type of offending" through the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy

"Nazir Ahmed resigned from the House of Lords in November 2020 and is no longer a member of the legislature," they added.

You can watch Newsnight at 22: 30 GMT on BBC 2 and afterwards on the iPlayer.