The impending release of Rochdale grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed, who cannot be deported because of a decades-old legal provision despite being stripped of British citizenship, has sparked a political storm in the UK, with Andy Burnham promising to examine "all possible options" to remove him from the country if he becomes prime minister.

Shabir Ahmed (pictured), 73, a key figure in the Rochdale grooming gangs, is set to be released from prison within a matter of days.

Shabir Ahmed, 73, known to his victims as “Daddy”, was jailed in 2012 for multiple counts of rape and sexual offences against girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester