Grooming gang deportation deal demanded as Pakistani airline ban lifted in ‘disgraceful failure’ for Britain
A landmark deal to deport grooming gang rapists to Pakistan has been called into question after Britain lifted a five-year ban on a Pakistani airline.
The People’s Channel last month revealed that grooming gang deportations were raised by Foreign Office ministers with Pakistani representatives, including at high-level meetings attended by Foreign Secretary David Lammy and FCDO Minister Hamish Falconer.
Whitehall sources said that Pakistani representatives had called for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to be permitted to fly to Britain again in exchange for accepting deportees.
However, the deportation plan was seemingly written off today after the British High Commission lifted the ban on Pakistan International Airlines without a confirmed deportation deal in place.
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|Britain banned PIA from flying in 2020 amid safety concerns
“In my own constituency, two men were convicted of raping a thirteen-year-old girl in Keighley.
“They absconded before sentencing and are now believed to be in Pakistan, and I have no confidence that authorities there are doing their bit to help locate them to face justice.
“This whole situation is unacceptable, and the Government must get real, apply proper pressure on the Pakistani authorities, and help give victims here get the justice they deserve.”
GB News first outlined in June that Pakistani ministers raised concerns that the first grooming gang deportations to Pakistan in over a decade could “open the floodgates”.
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|David Lammy took part in a high-level meeting with Pakistani ministers, where both a deportation deal and lifting the flying ban were raised
PIA’s removal from Britain’s Air Safety List comes just months after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency lifted its ban on the airline from operating flights to the bloc.
Although several private Pakistani airlines operate domestic and regional flights to the Middle East, PIA has historically been the only carrier to operate long-haul flights to Britain and the EU.
The airline estimated an annual revenue loss of around £107.4million due to the ban following the loss of direct routes to London, Manchester and Birmingham.
PIA’s spokesman said the airline was finalising preparations to resume UK flights “in the shortest possible time” and had submitted its proposed schedule.
If restored, PIA could conduct three weekly flights on the Islamabad-Manchester route.
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|The 2020 PIA crash killed 97 people
Rupert Lowe MP, who has launched a petition to the Government to collect mandatory data from child sex offenders, told GB News: “We don’t need to make deals with the Pakistani Government, we need to deport the Pakistani rapists and their foreign accomplices.
“If they don’t like it? Tough. Cancel foreign aid, suspend visas, tax remittances. Make it very uncomfortable for the Pakistani authorities.
“Do it once, and do it brutally. We wouldn’t need to do it twice.”
The revelation comes just a day after the Government confirmed Pakistan is also deporting Afghans to Britain.
According to the statement on the resettlement of Afghans to the UK following the Taliban takeover, the majority of those eligible for the scheme travelled via Pakistan.
Speaking for the Foreign Office and the Department for Transport, a Government spokeswoman told GB News: “Decisions on de-listing states and air carriers from the UK Air Safety List are an independent process overseen by the UK Air Safety Committee.
“Following close engagement with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority over several months, the Committee has judged that necessary safety improvements have been made since its original decision and has decided to remove Pakistan and its air carriers from the list.”
GB News understands that ministers are not directly involved in the decision-making process of the UK Air Safety Committee.