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Immigration Minister Mark Harper resigns after employing a cleaner working in the UK illegally Immigration Minister Mark Harper resigns after employing a cleaner working in the UK illegally
(about 5 hours later)
The Immigration Minister Mark Harper has resigned over his employment of a cleaner in the UK illegally. One of the coalition's brightest stars has dramatically resigned from the Government after it emerged that he had employed an illegal immigrant as a cleaner.
The Prime Minister has accepted his resignation in an exchange of letters between Mr Harper and David Cameron. Mark Harper quit as immigration minister after he discovered his cleaner, whom he employed at his London flat for seven years, did not have indefinite leave to remain in the UK. In his resignation letter to the Prime Minister, the Conservative MP for Forest of Dean admitted he should have checked the woman's documents more thoroughly. The Border Agency has launched an investigation.
There was "no suggestion that Mr Harper knowingly employed an illegal immigrant", Number 10 said but the Prime Minister "accepted his resignation with regret". He is replaced by junior Home Office minister James Brokenshire as Minister of State. Mr Harper, who became an MP in 2005, had served on the front bench since the start of Mr Cameron's leadership and was seen by some as a future Tory leader. He had won support from the Tory right last summer for being the minister in charge of the Home Office's controversial "Go Home" vans. The PM said he accepted his resignation with regret and told the MP he had made an "honourable decision".
Number 10 said the Forest of Dean MP offered his resignation after being informed of the situation this month. While there is no suggestion that Mr Harper knowingly employed an illegal immigrant, his failure to check his cleaner's documents left him with little choice. He stepped down on Friday, but No 10 did not announce the resignation until today.
"The Prime Minister has accepted the resignation of the Immigration Minister, Mark Harper," a spokeswoman said. According to Mr Harper's account, when he took on the cleaner in 2007 while he was a shadow minister, he took a copy of the woman's passport and proof that she had leave to remain. When he was appointed Cabinet Office minister in May 2010 he concluded that, because he had performed a right-to-work check in 2007, "no further check was necessary". In September 2012, when he was promoted to Immigration minister, he once again decided no check was necessary. "In retrospect, I should have checked more thoroughly," he added.
"Mark Harper offered his resignation after he was informed that his cleaner did not have indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom, despite having shown him documents claiming she did. In December, after being in charge of the Immigration Bill which requires employers and landlords to carry out "reasonable checks" and take copies of documents, Mr Harper said he "thought it prudent to check that all my documents were in order for my cleaner. I undertook an extensive search ... but unfortunately I was unable to locate them." In January he asked his cleaner for copies of her immigration documents, which she provided last Tuesday; on Wednesday, he passed the documents to his private office to check.
"He immediately notified the Prime Minister - who accepted his resignation with regret. There is no suggestion that Mr Harper knowingly employed an illegal immigrant." On Thursday morning he was told that the cleaner did not, in fact, have indefinite leave to remain. Whitehall sources refused to say whether the documents had been forged, but it is likely that this will be the focus of the Border Agency investigation.
In his letter of resignation, Mr Harper said he employed his cleaner in 2007 for his London flat and undertook checks to verify her leave to remain indefinitely in the UK. He then asked for further proof of her right to work in the UK earlier this year, which revealed she was working in the UK illegally. It is understood Mr Harper informed the Permanent Secretary, the Home Secretary and the PM of the problem on Thursday.
"As a result, in the week commencing 20 January 2014 I asked my cleaner for further copies of these documents which she provided on 4 February", he wrote. James Brokenshire, a junior minister at the Home Office, was appointed Immigration minister last night. Karen Bradley was promoted from the whips' office to the Home Office, while Harriett Baldwin entered the Government as a whip.
"On 5 February, I asked my private office to check the details with immigration officials to confirm that all was in order. I was informed on the morning of 6 February that my cleaner did not in fact have indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom." Mr Harper's case contrasts with that of Baroness Scotland, who was Labour's Attorney General when it emerged in 2009 she had employed an illegal immigrant from Tonga as a housekeeper. Despite the controversy, she did not resign and was not sacked by Gordon Brown.
Mr Harper said that while he had not broken the law as an employer, he believed that his position meant he must "hold myself to a higher standard than expected of others".
He conceded that he "should have checked more thoroughly" on taking on the highly-sensitive role that the documents the cleaner recruited to look after his London flat provided in 2007 were genuine.
In his response, Mr Cameron writes: “I am very sorry indeed to see you leave the Government, but I understand your reasons for doing so.
“In particular, I understand your view that, although you carried out checks on your cleaner, you feel that you should hold yourself to an especially high standard as Immigration Minister. You have taken an honourable decision.”
"You will be greatly missed, and I hope very much that you will be able to return to service on the frontbench before too long."
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