UK immigration officials to probe Lady Scotland over illegal visa maid
September 18 2009 by Mark Johnstone
Baroness Scotland in UK visa row
The UK Border Agency has begun an inquiry into the British attorney general who hired a housekeeper who did not hold a valid UK visa.
Lady Scotland, the UK government’s legal adviser and a prominent figure in UK immigration reform, employed Loloahi Tapui-Zivancevic from Tongo. The prominent government official could face a £10,000 fine if found in breach of visa laws.
The UK Border Agency announced that it investigate the conduct of Scotland after receiving a complaint from an anti-sleaze campaign group. They accused Scotland of flouting legislation that she herself helped to put through parliament.
The British government has backed Scotland and Gordon Brown said yesterday that he supported Scotland and that she had employed the housekeeper in good faith.
A statement from Downing Street said: “[Lady] Scotland has never knowingly employed an illegal immigrant. She hired Ms Tapui in good faith and saw documents which led her to believe that Ms Tapui was entitled to work in this country.”
Scotland hired the 27-year old Tongan to in the last six months to look after her family home in west London. But she was forced to terminate Tapui’s employment after it was revealed the hosuekeeper had overstayed on a student UK visa. That meant Tapui was no longer legally entitled to work in the UK.
The incident is particularly embarrassing for Scotland because, as a Home Office minister in 2006, she helped the government bring in legislation tightening the law on illegal immigrants who move to the UK.
Under the Immigration, Nationality and Asylum Act, employers can go to jail if they knowingly employ an illegal immigrant or face a fine up to £10, 000.
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