Attorney General Baroness Scotland Press Association

THE Attorney General faces a £10,000 fine for employing an illegal immigrant - under laws she helped draft.

Baroness Scotland sacked her housekeeper Loloahi Tapui, 27, after reports she was working illegally in the UK.

The Tongan had been paid an estimated £16,000-a-year to look after her £2m west London family home.

Scotland, 54, the first woman to become Britain's most senior lawyer, insisted she had believed Tapui was entitled to work here and said she had never knowingly employed an illegal immigrant.

But she could be fined up to £10,000 if she is found to have breached immigration laws, which insist “ignorance is no defence”.

The Baroness helped steer the controversial legislation through Parliament in 2006 when she was a Home Office minister.

MPs called for an immediate investigation, saying she must not be treated differently from other firms or individuals who employ illegal immigrants.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said: “This is a government that says all small employers should be prosecuted if they don’t know the immigration status of their employees and yet we have senior ministers who can't be bothered to make the checks themselves.

“There is a real 'one rule for them, one rule for us' attitude at the heart of this government and it is a disgrace.”

Tory MP Patrick Mercer, a member of the Commons home affairs select committee, added: “The border agency needs to look into this with some urgency. Ministers certainly can't be above the law.”

It is claimed Tapui came to the UK on a student visa in 2003 but stayed on illegally when her application to extend it was turned down.

She confirmed she had been working for the Attorney General for six months.

Tapui, who lives with her British partner in a west London flat, said the job was arranged by the lawyer’s personal assistant.

A spokesman for Scotland said: “At no stage prior to the matter being raised today did Baroness Scotland believe there was any question over Ms Tapui’s entitlement to work. Ms Tapui has now been dismissed with immediate effect.”

He added that the woman was registered for tax and national insurance prior to her being hired and that the she had paid tax and national insurance on her employee’s wages.