Lord Ahmed should have his title removed after being convicted of child abuse

In early February, Lord Ahmed of Rotherham was sentenced to five and a half years in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting two children in the 1970s, offences which included buggery and attempted rape.

Lord Ahmed was a member of the House of Lords from 1998 to 2020 and resigned from this position following accusations that he had used his position of authority to sexually assault vulnerable women who had come to him seeking help.

However, despite Lord Ahmed’s conviction, the House of Lords has confirmed that he will not lose his title as a Lord (even though he cannot vote in the House of Lords).

This is something that has caused understandable distress to his victims and survivors for whom it was important to be able to break their silence and to shine a light on the crimes that he had inflicted on them.

They will be relieved that Lord Ahmed should pay with time in prison for the crimes he carried out, but the fact that he retains his title as Lord must be galling.

I truly hope that other victims and survivors will take comfort from Lord Ahmed’s criminal conviction and know that regardless of when the abuse took place that there is help available and that those who abuse should always be brought to justice for their crimes.

It is important that abusers are seen to be rightly punished for what they have done and it is why a number of prominent men have had titles removed due to sex abuse convictions – they include Rolf Harris (CBE), Harvey Weinstein (honorary CBE) and Stuart Hall (OBE).

There are constitutional reasons why Lord Ahmed keeps his title, but I fully endorse the comments of and petition launched by Alexander Stafford MP to remove the title.

In April 2023 Mr Stafford launched a Private Members' Bill which would include the removal of a peerage from a person who has been convicted of child sexual abuse offences.

I hope people will sign and share the petition. Justice must be seen, as well as done, and that means people like Lord Ahmed should lose their titles for the horrific acts of child sexual abuse that they inflicted.

This blog was updated in May 2023