---

Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, the final remark made by the noble Lord, Lord Brett, that the Government will carefully consider whether to waive the requirements in a case where the domestic worker left employment because of abuse by the employer, was not adequate. Surely those are precisely the circumstances in which the Minister should have been able to assure us that the discretion would be exercised. I cannot imagine why, if it is proved that a domestic worker was beaten up by the employer and that was the only reason they left, there should be any valid excuse for not using the discretion. I still feel anxious about the way in which the discretion is to be exercised, because there is no indication of how long a person can be without employment before the discretion ceases to be operative.