New Delhi– An MP from Britain’s ruling conservative Party has called for Nazir Ahmed, a Pakistani-origin former Labour politician, to be stripped of his title as Lord after he was convicted of sexually abusing two children in the 1970s, saying it should be automatic in the case of child abusers, the Daily Mail reported.
Rother Valley MP Alexander Stafford started a petition in the wake of Wednesday’s guilty verdicts at Sheffield Crown Court, saying Ahmed was a “vile monster” who is “guilty of heinous crimes against children”, the report said.
“This vile monster should not hold such an illustrious title and, therefore, I am writing to the UK Justice Secretary Dominic Raab calling for the removal of his title.”
Stafford told BBC Radio Sheffield: “Anyone, frankly, who commits any abuse of children should automatically lose their title. There should be a mechanism in place to do that.
“I think there should be an independent commission looking at how peers and other honours are appointed, and how that comes forward. And have a consensual agreement to get to the best place.”
Ahmed, 64, was found guilty of two counts of attempted rape and another of buggery relating to incidents involving a boy and girl in the early 1970s, the Daily Mail reported.
He will be sentenced on February 4. Ahmed resigned from the House of Lords in November 2020 after reading the contents of a conduct committee report which found he sexually assaulted a vulnerable woman who sought his help.
The report made him the first peer to be recommended for expulsion but he resigned before this could be implemented.
But many were surprised to discover that Ahmed’s title is separate from his membership of the house.
The House of Lords confirmed that, as the title is created by letters patent from the Queen, it has no power to remove it.
Legislation would be needed to strip Ahmed of his title, the report said. (IANS)
