MP urges migrant minister probe

UK police are being urged to investigate whether the former immigration minister broke the law by employing an illegal immigrant as his cleaner.

Police are being urged to investigate former coalition minister Mark Harper after he admitted employing an illegal immigrant as a cleaner.

Labour backbencher John Mann has written to Scotland Yard commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe asking for a probe into whether the law was broken.

Mr Harper resigned over the weekend after admitting he had failed to make sufficiently rigorous checks on his cleaner's status.

The Tory had been responsible in the Commons for the Immigration Bill - which among other changes seeks to double the fines on employers who recruit illegal immigrants to STG20,000 ($A36,800) per case.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he accepted the resignation "with regret".

On Monday, Home Secretary Theresa May described Mr Harper as an "excellent minister" and dismissed the idea that he had broken the law.

"Mark has said very clearly that he felt he should hold himself to a higher standard," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

But Mr Mann said he had referred Mr Harper to the police as legal experts are suggesting that by employing an illegal immigrant and failing to keep the relevant documents, he may well have broken the law.

"The idea of Harper's resignation being 'honourable' is nonsense," he said.

"As Immigration Minister, he claimed more than STG2000 ($A3680) in expenses from the taxpayer to pay an illegal immigrant to clean his home and iron his clothes."


2 min read

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Updated

Source: AAP



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