Baroness: My illegal staff gaffe is like not paying road charge

Published on Tuesday 22 September 2009 22:09

ATTORNEY General Baroness Scotland's job was hanging in the balance last night after she was fined £5,000 for employing an illegal worker as a housekeeper.

Despite issuing an apology and receiving backing from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the peer risked inflaming the row further by comparing her mistake to forgetting to pay the congestion charge in London.

Political opponents branded her "breathtakingly complacent" and accused Mr Brown of dithering over sacking her.

The UK Border Agency launched an inquiry after it emerged that a Tongan citizen, paid by Lady Scotland to look after her west London home, had overstayed her student visa.

Yesterday, Border Agency chief executive Lin Homer accepted the peer had not knowingly employed an illegal worker, and had taken steps to check documents for 27-year-old Loloahi Tapui.

"However, the law requires that employers must keep copies of documents proving the right to work in the UK and in this instance the employer failed to meet this requirement," she added.

Lady Scotland, who is the government's top legal officer, said she fully accepted the findings: "It's like driving into the City and not paying the congestion charge. It's not a criminal offence.

"I made an administrative, technical error for which I am bitterly, bitterly, sorry.

"I will never fail to take a photocopy again. I got it wrong. It was a technical breach and I have paid the penalty."

Aides said Lady Scotland had not been downplaying the importance of the mistake but had been highlighting the difference between a criminal and civil offence.

But the remarks risked undermining efforts by Mr Brown to draw a line under the episode.

Shortly before she made her apology, the Prime Minister, en route to the US for the G20 summit, had released a statement.

It said: "In line with the Ministerial Code I have consulted the Cabinet Secretary and, given the UK Border Agency is satisfied she did not knowingly employ an illegal worker and took steps to check the documents, I have concluded that no further action is necessary given the investigation and action that has already been taken by the appropriate authorities and her unreserved apology."

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said: "There is a breathtaking culture of complacency at the heart of this government. You don't get a 5,000 fine for not paying the congestion charge. Her comments underline how bad Gordon Brown's judgment has been in giving her his full backing."

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, also called for Lady Scotland to go. "Law makers should not be law breakers, and this applies even more to Baroness Scotland due to her special position as chief law officer," he said. "Her position now looks untenable."

BLAZING A TRAIL FROM DOMINICA TO WESTMINISTER

BARONESS Scotland of Asthal has blazed a trail throughout her high-flying career. In 1991, she was the first black woman to be made Queen's Counsel.

She became the first black woman to serve as a government minister. In June 2007, she became both the first black Attorney General and the only woman to hold the post. Patricia Janet Scotland was born in Dominica on August 19 1955, the tenth of 12 children.

When she was three her family moved to Walthamstow in east London, and she studied law at the University of London before being called to the Bar in 1977.

In 1985 she married Richard Mawhinney – the brother of former Tory chairman Brian – with whom she has two sons.

Tony Blair raised her to the House of Lords in 1997. She served as a minister at the Foreign Office from 1999 to 2001, and was parliamentary secretary in the Lord Chancellor's department from 2001 until 2003.

She then moved to the Home Office as a minister, with responsibility for crime reduction and the Prime Minister's Respect agenda.