Keith Vaz to step aside after male escort allegations
London,
Sept
4:
Keith
Vaz,
Britain's
longest
serving
Indian-origin
MP,
was
on
Sunday
embroiled
in
a
sex
scandal
after
a
newspaper
claimed
he
had
paid
for
male
prostitutes.
The
Labour
MP
from
Leicester
since
1987,
who
is
a
married
father
of
two,
paid
for
men
to
visit
him
one
evening
last
month
at
a
flat
he
owns
in
London,
the
'Sunday
Mirror' claimed.
The 59-year-old Goan-origin MP has since announced he will be stepping aside as chair of the influential House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, which he has headed for the past 10 years.
"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," he said in a statement reported by 'Sky News'.
It is understood that Vaz has not resigned completely but temporarily as he speaks to his lawyer and other members of the committee.
The committee is currently examining prostitution in the UK and had issued a report recently saying that soliciting by sex workers should be decriminalised.
Vaz
allegedly
paid
for
sex
with
two
male
prostitutes
and
offered
to
pay
for
a
class
A
or
banned
drug,
according
to
the
newspaper
report,
which
is
accompanied
by
a
video.
It
is
alleged
the
MP
had
two
meetings
with
Eastern
European
origin
escorts,
including
a
90-minute
meeting
on
August
27.
One
text,
reportedly
sent
by
Vaz,
said
the
men
should
arrive
at
"11
pm,
nice
and
late".
He
is
said
to
have
added:
"I
want
a
good
time
please."
Vaz is accused of asking the young men to bring poppers to the flat, as well as allegedly joking about being a "pimp".
As the talk ranged from sex to pets, Vaz eventually said: "We need to get this party started".
He also spoke about having had unprotected sex.
And ahead of the meeting he had sent a series of texts in which he jokingly called himself one of the men's "pimp" and "bank manager".
Vaz paid the escorts in cash, the report claimed.
"Money was also paid into a bank account used by one of them by a man linked to a charity set up by the MP," it said.
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."
IANS