Keith Vaz to `resign` as HASC chair after male escort claims
Police-reforming MP Keith Vaz has reportedly stepped aside from his high profile role as chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) following allegations about his private life in the Sunday Mirror.
Sep 4, 2016
By Nick Hudson
Police-reforming MP Keith Vaz has reportedly stepped aside from his high profile role as chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) following allegations about his private life in the Sunday Mirror.
The married Labour MP overseeing the biggest shake-up-of Britain`s prostitution laws in generations has allegedly been exposed caught paying for the services of two male escorts.
The father-of-two told the Mail on Sunday that he was standing down from the committee, which he has chaired since July 2007, and that he had referred the allegations to his solicitor.
Mr Vaz, Labour MP for the Leicester East constituency for almost 30 years, is alleged to have paid for two Eastern European men to visit him one evening last month at a flat he owns in London, according to the Sunday Mirror.
In a statement Mr Vaz said: “It is deeply disturbing that a national newspaper should have paid individuals to have acted in this way.
“I have referred these allegations to my solicitor Mark Stephens of Howard Kennedy who will consider them carefully and advise me accordingly.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Keith Vaz has issued a statement on this matter. As with all departmental select committees, Keith was elected to the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee by the House of Commons, and his position is a matter for him and the House”.
According to the Sunday Mirror, Mr Vaz`s meeting with two male escorts included a discussion about using the party drug Poppers.
The former Minister for Europe had opposed Government attempts to criminalise the drug.
Ministers later announced they would remain within the law.
Mr Vaz is alleged to have tried to conceal his identity from the two escorts by telling them he was a washing machine salesman.
After the Sunday Mirror published voice recordings of the alleged encounter, a friend of Mr Vaz reportedly accepted he had been foolish but claimed the MP was a victim of a newspaper sting.
In a statement to the Mail on Sunday, Mr Vaz said: I am genuinely sorry for the hurt and distress that has been caused by my actions in particular to my wife and children.
“I will be informing the Committee on Tuesday of my intention to stand aside from chairing the sessions of the Committee with immediate effect.”
The initial findings of the HASC inquiry review on the sex industry, which published a 53-page interim report on July 1 simply entitled `Prostitution`, warned against bringing in a new law to prosecute people who pay for sex.
It took evidence from experts including Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Nikki Holland, the National Police Chiefs` Councils Lead for Prostitution and Exploitation.
HASC members, including Mr Vaz, visited Denmark and Sweden to see differing approaches of dealing with sex workers male as well as female.
The interim report recommended significant changes in existing laws so that soliciting and brothel-keeping are decriminalised. It noted that sex work is often linked to criminality, including trafficking, coercion and illegal drugs.
And it cautioned against introducing a sex buyer law in place in other countries which could criminalise men who pay for sex.
The report said the HASC is not yet persuaded that the sex buyer law is effective in reducing, rather than simply displacing, demand for prostitution, or in helping the police to tackle the crime and exploitation associated with the sex industry.
It added that a sex buyer law wo