Appendix 8:
Additional comments submitted by Mr Clive
Betts on 27 June 2003
Confirmation of Events
at Stansted
"I confirm that the purpose of my conversation
with the entry clearance officer was to say i) that the letter
from the college was not an original, ii) that it was a copy of
a fax iii) that it stated that only the registration fee, not
the full course fee, had been paid and iv) that a further statement
of the college's belief that a full fee had to be paid before
a visa could be granted had been removed from the copy. The officer
stopped the conversation short to say that this information was
irrelevant because she was not going to issue a visa due to missing
information and because the letter was not an original, although
she was willing to give Mr Gasparo an extension for two months
to get his papers together."
Comments on the report
prepared by the Immigration Officer
"The statement confirms that I did not present
myself as a Member of Parliament. I did not hear Mr Gasparo refer
to me as his boss, possibly because initially I was standing behind
him. I do not recall Mr Gasparo saying that he had paid the full
course fees. The letter states that only the registration fee
had been paid. I drew this to the attention of the officer. I
do not recall making any reference to the number of hours that
Mr Gasparo worked but if I had made any reference to 20 hours
it would have been to explain that Mr Gasparo worked for no more
than 20 hours a week which is only slightly different to the account
given by the officer. At the conclusion of the interview the officer
simply said that she would not issue a new visa for the reasons
given in her statement, consistent with my statement. She stated
that she would grant an extension for two months to enable Mr
Gasparo to get his paperwork together. There was no discussion
or questioning of this decision; rather my feeling was one of
overwhelming relief that the letter had played no part in the
decision that the officer had made. I certainly did not express
any reluctance to accept her decision. My contribution to the
conversation was to explain about the letter which I may have
seemed to have been doing at some length when the officer interrupted
to make her position clear. I can only surmise that she mistakenly
interpreted my explanation about the letter as reluctance, which
was not my attitude; rather I was anxious to co-operate. Finally,
the officer's statement makes it clear that the amended letter
played no part in the granting of the visa extension."
The letter from the Deputy
Serjeant at Arms
"There is absolutely no question of me misleading
or attempting to mislead anyone in the application for a pass
for Mr Gasparo. The application was made on a bona fide basis
and there was no failure to disclose any information in the procedure
which I followed precisely. I genuinely believed that Mr Gasparo
had given up his escort activities and that he was rehabilitating
himself from that occupation so it did not occur to me that it
might have been relevant as a security issue. I do of course respect
the view of the Deputy Serjeant of Arms that he would have considered
Mr Gasparo's previous escort activities as a potential security
risk and would have not have issued a pass. However, I beg to
differ that there was or might have been a potential security
risk or how any such risk could have materialised. Like any other
MP I believe that I was entitled to rely on the efficiency of
the vetting procedures that operate when pass applications are
made. As mentioned in paragraph 30 of the Commissioner's draft
memorandum the Serjeant at Arms does not offer advice on the security
implications of staff employment. I therefore followed the procedure
as I had understood it."
The Immigration Act 1971
"I was not in breach of any of the relevant
provisions of the Immigration Act 1971 (as amended). In particular,
I went out of my way to ensure that the entry clearance officer
was not misled by the amended letter when to my surprise Mr Gasparo
produced it contrary to my specific request not to do so."
27 June 2003
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