First meeting of the day with a woman from St Mary’s Estate (also known as the Lightfoot Estate) in Hornsey. The list of things Haringey Council are not doing that they should be doing is as long as my arm. So much of it is just stuff that should be done – for which we are paying. I will pursue all items with Haringey Council!

Up to the Commons for the asylum, immigration and nationality debate. The Government is rightly trying to make our laws on immigration and asylum better, however – in their usual fashion – are making a pig’s ear of it. I intervene on the employers part of the bill – where I think that the new fines, inspection regime and penalties will frighten employers into discriminating against employing ‘foreigners’ in case they are breaking the new law. And the guidance, information and indeed, documentation, is so unclear – a risk-averse employer will simply play safe. So even though the government’s intentions are good in wanting to stop the exploitation that we have seen of foreign (illegal) workers – they need to do a lot more work to make sure there are not unintended consequences.