Fallen immigration minister Mark Harper today faced a growing row over whether he may have broken the law by using an illegal immigrant cleaner.
Home Secretary Theresa May insisted this morning that he had not done anything illegal.
But Labour demanded border agency chiefs give their views on the case.
Rising star Mr Harper stressed he discovered late last week that his Colombian cleaner did not have indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
He had been prompted to re-check her documents as he is in charge of new legislation that doubles the fine for employers caught taking on an illegal worker to £20,000.
He was unable to find the documents she originally presented to him to show her immigration status when he first hired her in 2007.
The cleaner, who has been named as Isabella Acevedo, produced new copies which he passed to immigration officials, who told him that the woman should not in fact be in the country.
Forest of Dean MP Mr Harper insists he complied with the law at all times.
Asked on BBC radio whether he had broken the law, Ms May said: “No. What I say is that we do ask employers to make their best efforts — and we’re going to be asking landlords to do that — to check the status of the people that they’re employing or renting property to. And that’s what we expect them to do, just make their best efforts.” But shadow Cabinet Office minister Jonathan Ashworth claimed both the Government and Mr Harper “still have questions to answer” over the case, including when the Home Office first knew about it.
“Importantly, we should also be told whether the UK Border Agency have made a judgement as to the legality of Mr Harper’s actions. He cannot simply be cleared by the Home Secretary on the radio. He should be treated like everyone else rather than given specialist treatment,” he added.
Employers can use as a defence that they did their best to check the legal status of immigrant workers but are supposed to keep records on this.
Some legal experts suggest Mr Harper’s failure to do so undermines this defence. But the Home Office stressed he had not broken the law because the cleaner was self-employed.
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In his resignation letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Harper, who stepped down on Saturday, insisted he checked his cleaner’s immigration status.
