The Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, was fighting for her political career last night as immigration officials began an investigation into how she came to hire an illegal worker as a housekeeper.
The UK Border Agency's investigation piled embarrassment on Lady Scotland, who is the chief law officer for England and Wales. She will have to surrender all paperwork relating to the employment of her Tongan housekeeper, Loloahi Tapui.
Under laws passed when Lady Scotland was a Home Office minister, anyone found guilty of employing an illegal immigrant – even in good faith – can be fined up to £10,000.
Downing Street insisted Gordon Brown had full confidence in his embattled minister, but last night the Conservatives claimed there was a "big question" over her future.
Lady Scotland sacked her employee on Wednesday after it emerged that she was an illegal immigrant. Miss Tapui, 27, has been living illegally in Britain for five years after her student visa ran out.
The Attorney General, who hired Miss Tapui to look after her home in west London, denies knowing that she had no right to be in Britain.
Speculation was growing last night on the paperwork inspected by Lady Scotland prior to appointing the housekeeper. The Daily Mail reported that Miss Tapui had unsuccessfully tried to renew the visa twice, once in 2004 and in 2005, but had been told by immigration officials to appeal or leave the country.
The UK Border Agency confirmed it would examine the case. A spokesman said: "The UK Border Agency will conduct this investigation as they would any other investigation into allegations of illegal working."
When Miss Tapui's illegal status was exposed, Lady Scotland's spokesman said she had seen documents which led her to believe she "was entitled to work in this country" and also paid tax and National Insurance relating to her employee.
But the Attorney General would not provide details of the paperwork she had seen and last night was not returning calls. Mr Brown's official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister ... has full confidence in Baroness Scotland. He thinks she's doing a very good job as Attorney General."
Mr Brown, speaking in Brussels ahead of a meeting of EU leaders, said he had spoken to Lady Scotland yesterday. He said she had alerted the UK Border Agency to the controversy herself. "She herself said to me she wished to apologise for an inadvertent mistake on her part," he said.
Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, leapt to Lady Scotland's defence, but said everyone in public life had a duty to obey the law. He said she was a person of "the highest integrity" who had been an "excellent" Attorney General.
"But of course, everyone in public life is in a position where they should be obeying the law and she says she did and she has issued a statement and I can't take the discussion further on those particular facts," he told the BBC.
But the Conservatives said the Attorney General faced a series of unanswered questions, and accused ministers of hypocrisy for talking tough on immigration but failing to carry out proper checks on foreign staff they took on in their private lives.
Yesterday, the former Home Office official Christopher Galley, who now works for the Sunlight Centre for Open Politics campaign group, demanded an investigation. In a letter to the head of UKBA, Lin Homer, he wrote: "I urge you, as chief executive of the United Kingdom Border Agency, to fulfil your statutory duty as required under the Act and enforce the law upon Baroness Scotland without regard for her high office."
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