Thaindian News

London, Sep 27 (IANS) A senior British minister faced renewed calls to quit after a squabble with her former cleaner - a Tongan whose illegal status has left the Labour government red-faced.
Baroness Patricia Scotland, Britain’s attorney general, was ordered to pay a 5,000 pound fine Sep 22 after the home ministry found that she had not made photocopies of the Tongan’s passport - a legal requirement for employers.

Now, domestic worker Loloahi Tapui has hit back saying the minister never asked her to show her the passport in the first place.

“I’m not backstabbing Lady Scotland, but I have to do this. The thing is I know it’s not true that I produced a passport and a letter from the Home Office saying I was entitled to work,” said Tapui who was arrested along with her Serbian-born husband Wednesday.

“She didn’t ask for a passport or a letter. But she has said she has seen a passport which I did not provide,” Tapui was quoted as saying by the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

The Tongan has apparently admitted overstaying in Britain for five years.

Scotland restated her position Saturday, saying: “For the record, as I have said previously, I was shown all relevant documents - a P45, National Insurance details, a marriage certificate, a letter from the Home Office, references, and a passport - by Ms Tapui during her job interviews.”

The opposition Conservative Party’s shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, renewed calls for Scotland to resign, saying: “This unedifying row just underlines why Baroness Scotland’s position is now completely untenable.”