The problem in this case lies in the cover-up. The leaked emails confirm that despite this being the age of freedom of information a deep-seated “don’t reveal anything unless you have to” spin culture continues to exist at the very heart of government….
Checks on immigration status are a legal obligation of the employer and not the SIA and it was never originally envisaged that they should be carried out.
In fact, the failure to carry these immigration checks is actually more embarrassing for the Home Office and the Metropolitan police who employed some of these private security guards in high-profile roles than it is to the SIA itself.
– The Guardian
One of her predecessors, Charles Clarke, lost his job over a similar controversy when it emerged foreign prisoners were released without being deported.
Mr Clarke was open about the problem – even volunteering a statement to parliament – yet still lost his job.
So it will be an uncomfortable occasion for Ms Smith in view of the evidence that she was party to an apparent cover-up.
-The Telegraph
Jacqui Smith is learning the oldest rule about being Home Secretary: there are unknown difficulties buried in the basement of the Home Office with a toxicity to damage and even destroy political careers.
Sent into the Home Office to bring a less frenetic tone than her predecessor John Reid, Ms Smith was told within three weeks of becoming the first female Home Secretary that thousands of illegal migrants had been cleared to work as security guards.
The new Home Secretary had two choices: either come clean immediately about the problem or keep quiet until officials had worked out the extent of the latest immigration fiasco to hit the department.
Ms Smith was dammed if she did, and dammed if she didn’t.
– The Times
One thing is now painfully clear: the Home Secretary had no excuse at all for her silence.
On the contrary, it was only to spare her department further embarrassment that she sat on her guilty secret.
What was it we were promised, less than five months ago, about a new era of honesty and openness in government?
– The Mail
