Thursday, September 17, 2009

Quote of the Day: Scotland Edition


"We are cracking down hard on employers who flout the immigration laws."
Baroness Scotland, Lords Hansard, 13 June 2007, col 1697)

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice find Iain. Of course, the good baroness has reported her oversight to the relevant authorities now. So that's all right, then.

Ollie Cromwell said...

Splendid

Jeff said...

This could be the only instance where I'm happy for Scotland to be given a bad name.

As you were...

Adam Pritchard said...

Even as a Tory, I find it quite sad that when the history of this government is written it will be all about lies, hypocricy, petty greed and double standards. Where did we get these oafs from?

Let's resolve right now to be much better when we're the government.

Old Holborn said...

Check the oath

Bardirect said...

Funny how this post appeared nearly an hour after I posted her earlier 2004 quote on your previous "Scotland" thread

"Oh the irony:

From Hansard 11 Feb 2004 Columns1104/5

“Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My Lords, as I said, we shall shortly be revising the secondary legislation supporting Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. As your Lordships know, that legislation deals with employers and the prevention of illegal working. It will strengthen the kinds of documentation that employers are required to check to comply with Section 8. This will make it easier for the Immigration Service to identify and prosecute non-compliant employers.”"

VW:poxhaweb

Thomas Rossetti said...

Good find, Iain. I don't see how she can possibly remain in her job. If you were a government minister and this happened to you, it would be bad enough, but as the Attorney General, this is just unbelievable.

In light of the fact that this housekeeper was from a foreign country, don't you think the Baroness would have taken extra care to ensure she was there legally? That she didn't do so just beggars belief.

Unknown said...

Yes Iain and notice that the BBC gave the story 10 seconds on the main news. If a Tory had been caught out like this do you really think the beeboids would have given it just 10 seconds? No mention from the beeboids either that SHE was the one responsible for pushing that legislation through.

Compare how Alan Duncan got treated by the BBC to her.

The BBC are a bunch of *****

I notice ITV went big with the dead soldier's father's letter to McOne Eye saying it's his fault.

Meanwhile over at the BBC........tumbleweed.

And where is Toenails Robinson?

Unsworth said...

What I admire about La Scotland's actions over this matter is that, no matter how thick or headstrong she may be, she has finally realised that it should be laid before her helpful colleagues at the UK Borders Agency - and she has done so.

What might have triggered her action? Why did it take so long?

Nigel Allery said...

Is there no vetting by security services of staff, even personal staff when they have access to such prominent ministers homes??

The Govt wants checks on parents driving kids on Sunday morning footie outings but lets anyone in ther own homes? Stupid beyond belief.

It doesn't add up... said...

Two things:

Will the Baroness now take on an unemployed member of the white working class in the interest of racial harmony?

Will the Baroness now be one of Phil Woolas' victims as per this Home Office press release:

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/centreright/2009/09/is-the-home-office-press-office-fit-for-purpose-.html

Anonymous said...

The more you look into this the more ludicrous it becomes. What cruel fate for this once great country. I can only assume that it deserves it.

Ed said...

I think it is unacceptable that law abiding people such as the good Baroness Scotland may inadvertently fall foul of the highly complicated immigration laws. The Government should do something about it.

One easy, clear, simple and effective solution is to set up the ASA (Alien Supervisory Authority). This body, staffed by no less than 200 people, would be tasked to ensure that any non UK or non EU citizen has permission to work in this country. Anyone who seeks to employ any alien on a full time, part time or even on an one-off basis, must first seek a clearance certificate from the ASA. To defray the costs of the ASA, each certificate will cost £64. The ASA will seek to provide such certificates within a maximum period of 3 months.

Yeah, that should fix the problem.

/irony

Bird said...

I gather the Baroness came to this country as a two year old.
Has anyone ever checked her status?

Stronghold Barricades said...

I prefer the quote on Guido from Liam Byrne

Anonymous said...

'It does not add up' - I wonder how many white interviewees she turned down.
Terribly middle class to have a 'housekeeper' - who does she think she is, Miss Marple? Democrats in America call them Philippino Maids.

It shows how bad the situation is if even a govt minister employ an 'illegal'.
Still she has been 'illegal' for 5 years so the poor Baroness is hung on the petard of 10 years of socialist lies and neglect.

BTW - I thought Brown looked like a man facing a firing squad when he spoke about this today.

zeno said...

Mr. Unsworth - do you think it may have had something to do with the complaint about her sent by the Sunlight Centre for Open Politics to UKBA?

Word verification - fubar. You couldn't choose a better word, could you?

Anonymous said...

She will remain in her job for three reasons - she is black, she is a woman and she has the surname Scotland.

That leaves all complainers open to accusations of [in order] racism, sexism and English arrogance.

You can't get rid of a Scot, they stick like extra super gluey limpets to anything funded by the English taxpayer.

Mike Law said...

Saw Vaz on Newsnight say that there are some aspects of the law that are not quite right... code for, we thought the law was okay until one of us got caught out by it; now it may need some revision so none of us get caught out again.

Doesn't this just confirm the fact that MP and Peers see themselves as better than the rest of us and exempt from the rules and regulations the we, the hoi polloi, are subjected to?

Jimmy said...

"do you think it may have had something to do with the complaint about her sent by the Sunlight Centre for Open Politics"


Well nothing strikes fear and into the heart of the powerful quite like the Sunlight Centre.

The ever open eye said...

I really don't know what all the fuss is about.

Baroness Scotland has pressed the 'Good Faith' button. Consequently, all is well.

Well, it's certainly worked for a long list of previous NuLabour transgressors.

Jimmy said...

"we thought the law was okay until one of us got caught out by it;"

Nonsense. Labour made this a civil penalty. It was the tories that originally made this a criminal offence. Not something you would ever guess from hearing them talk about it now.

"You can't get rid of a Scot,"

You do realise that's her surname, not her nationality.

Flemingcrag said...

I have no sympathy for this woman as she was instrumental in drafting this bad law.

I say bad law because I cannot for the life of me understand how any Country can allow its young soldiers to be killed in a foreign land to protect our freedoms at home and then relegate the task of finding out who is an illegal immigrant in this Country to a myriad of employers.

spider said...

This has all but disappeared from the BBCs political pages.

Is the investigation/whitewash going to ask why the Baroness colluded to help an illegal immigrant to remain i the UK by not reporting her whereabouts to the UKBA?

Cynic said...

Here's another nice find from the AG's website where her responsibilities are listed:

"The Attorney General has been appointed Ministerial Champion for a number of Criminal Justice issues including Narrowing the Justice Gap - bringing more offenders to justice."

It doesn't add up... said...

The "Good Faith" button? You mean she's announced that she will attend the mosque from now on?

True Belle said...

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

"The case is the latest in a string of similar scandals at the Home Office. Last December, it emerged that an illegal immigrant with forged papers had been guarding its Whitehall HQ for 19 months.


He was one of 11,000 suspected illegals granted clearance by the Security Industry Authority - an agency of the Home Office --without proper checks.


In 2006, five Nigerian illegal immigrants were found working at the Home Office as cleaners.

Last night the UK Border Agency insisted it had 'a thorough vetting process' and checks were run on the financial viability, company turnover, insurance and bankruptcy protection of contractors."

This was last year, 2008--!

Accountability is not in this Governments mantra, is it?

More Quangocrap hiccups to come , of that I am sure

True Belle said...

Last year it also emerged that 11,000 workers without the right to work in the UK had been issued with licences for security posts by the Security Industry Authority.

It later emerged that the vast majority of them - 8,000 workers - had obtained National Insurance numbers. One had been looking after the Prime Minister's car.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3075219/Jacqui-Smith-has-no-idea-whether-illegal-immigrants-are-working-at-Home-Office.html

Unsworth said...

@ Jimmy

"Labour made this a civil penalty."

Yes.

So?

Does this materially affect the case?

Unsworth said...

@ zeno

Well it's just possible, isn't it? Perhaps the combination of a formal complaint and the publishing of that complaint by Guido and themselves may have serve to jog the Noble Lady's 'memory'. But perhaps also that's far too generous an assessment.

Anonymous said...

@Bird
As she was born in 1955 and came to the UK when she was 3, the Baroness arrived in the UK before the first Commonwealth Immigration Act of 1962, and was therefore not subject to any form of immigration control. Sorry, and all that.

From a former HO Civil servant who resigned because it was so awful under Jack Straw et al.

Jimmy said...

"Does this materially affect the case?"

I think it puts rather big hole in the gleeful "hoist by her own petard" narrative don't you?

Anonymous said...

Talking of quotes, compare and contrats these quotes from James G Brown. Only 13 days apart and he goes from telling the G20 not to cut spending to telling them to.

The man and all who support him are a national disgrace.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/g20-summit/6141958/Gordon-Brown-warns-G20-countries-against-reining-in-spending.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/gordon-brown/6203488/Gordon-Brown-to-call-for-international-agreement-to-cut-public-spending.html

Note:
Found here http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/5342901/how-quickly-things-change.thtml#comments

Unsworth said...

@ Jimmy

No.

And nor does it materially affect the case.