---

Security Industry Authority

My Lords, does the Minister agree that he has not adequately answered the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, concerning trust? Is not the general feeling of the public and those who are reasonably well informed, on reading of these matters, that the Home Secretary was—what shall we say?—waiting for a good day on which to bury bad news? Is that not the truth of the matter? Beyond that, looking to the substance of the issue, will the Minister say how far must, how far should and how far may an employer go in asking a prospective employee whether he or she has the right to work in this country? Is the employer able to rely simply on the employee producing what they claim is a national insurance number? If the applicant is clearly of an ethnic minority, or has a poor command of English, is the employer entitled to question him or her more closely than they might someone who appears to be native British? If the employer has several applicants for a post, are they entitled or able to prefer the one who is obviously of British nationality, rather than those about whom they should inquire more deeply?