A Luton-based Lord illegally smuggled a child into the UK by falsely claiming that he was his son, it has emerged.
Lib Dem Qurban Hussain, who was the deputy leader of Luton Borough Council from 2005 to 2007, brought the child over from Pakistan when he was two after being born in 1990 to a couple in Kashmir.
According to the Sunday Mirror Lord Hussain managed to convince the British High Commission in Islamabad that he was the father of the child, in order to obtain a British passport for the boy.
The boy in question is now 23 and lives 160 miles away from Lord Hussain’s Luton home, according to reports.
Lord Hussain told the Sunday Mirror: “I know now it is illegal. I realise it was legally wrong but morally it was the right thing to do.
“The child’s mother begged my wife to take him. He was born in the next house in the same village on the exact same day as my daughter.
“You have never before seen levels of poverty like this family lived in. We did everything in good faith.
“I approached the British High Commission in Islamabad but I didn’t complete the right paperwork.
“Now I know it was illegal but I didn’t know then. Now I regret it.”
Lord Hussain moved to the UK in 1971 and has lived in Luton since 1993.
He has stood as a parliamentary candidate for Luton South in 2005 and 2010.
In 2010 the Lib Dem was made a life peer.
The Luton News has contacted Lord Hussain for comment.