Disgraced Labour MP Keith Vaz brazenly addresses Commons despite rent boy scandal after wife makes public show of support
Prime Minister Theresa May has stuck the knife in to the disgraced Labour MP
BRAZEN Keith Vaz turned up in the Commons yesterday in a bid to tough out his sex and drug scandal.
He was still refusing to step down as chair of the powerful Home Affairs Select Committee — despite claims that he met male prostitutes at his London flat and offered to cover the cost of buying cocaine.
Mr Vaz, who faces possible probes by the Metropolitan Police, the Charity Commission and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, arrived at the House in the afternoon and asked two questions.
He first rose to his feet to “warmly welcome” new Home Secretary Amber Rudd to her job and later asked a question about Yemen during a Foreign Office statement.
His shameless move stunned colleagues, who heard his interventions in silence.
Earlier the 59-year-old Labour veteran had left his home in Edgware, North West London, alongside his wife of 23 years Maria.
He appeared to whistle as he closed his front door, later accusing the gathered media of intrusion.
Maria last night appeared to be standing by her husband.
Meanwhile the PM led the charge for Mr Vaz to quit as MPs prepared to demand he step down as committee chair.
Asked at the G20 summit in China if the Leicester East MP had fallen below the standards required of an MP, Theresa May said: “I have always been clear throughout my political career that what is important for people is that they feel they are able to have confidence in their politicians. And that’s what I think we all have a duty to provide to those who elect us.”
Her comments were last night seen as a thinly-veiled hint for Mr Vaz to resign as committee chairman — as well as from Parliament.
Furious MPs will today call for him to be stripped of his senior Commons role as more details of his alleged meet with two male prostitutes emerged last night. The Daily Mirror said Mr Vaz “took control” of the evening with the escorts.
He is said to have told the men to assume sexual positions and ordered them what to do with each other. He is alleged to have said: “Show me how he’s your bitch.”
And when told a third prostitute would not be joining them he said to one of the men: “I’m just going to have to f*** you.”
It was also reported that Mr Vaz had enjoyed a family dinner just hours before his alleged sex session.
Pedro Fernandes, the brother of the MP’s wife Maria, told the Daily Mail how the politician had eaten dinner with relatives in Leicester, along with Maria and the couple’s teenage daughter, before he headed back to London alone.
He added: “She will be shocked and find it difficult to believe this because it’s so out of character.
“I always thought that Vaz and my sister had a happy marriage. He never normally drinks — maybe a couple of sips of wine — and he never takes drugs.”
Westminster sources said last night Mr Vaz will get his marching orders as he meets colleagues on the Home Affairs Select Committee for showdown talks.
One committee member said: “He will try to cling on at all costs, but the tide is rolling in.” Another said: “It’s all rather sordid, but taken in isolation the offering to buy cocaine thing makes his position untenable.
“Could he chair another session on drugs again? I don’t think he can continue and I imagine a majority of the members agree.”
Committee insiders said the MPs would listen to Mr Vaz’s side of the story, then make it clear he cannot possibly sit in on further business.
One insider said: “I understand he’s proposing to come and test the water. I don’t think he has the numbers to survive and rather hope he’ll reach that conclusion himself.”
But there was confusion over what action MPs on the committee can actually take should he refuse to quit, since the chairman is elected to the post by the whole House.
Yesterday Tory MP Andrew Bridgen published three letters of complaint about Mr Vaz — sent to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, the Charity Commission and the Metropolitan Police.
He is urging all three to investigate financial and sexual “transgressions” and potential criminality.
In his letter to the Met, Mr Bridgen sought a probe into if Mr Vaz had taken part in a “conspiracy to supply a controlled substance”.
He said: “Mr Vaz has historically and is currently bringing Parliament into disrepute. I don’t think he is a fit and proper person to be an MP.”
WEALTH IS A MYSTERY
THE source of Keith Vaz’s apparent wealth was a mystery last night.
The MP paid £387,500 in cash for the flat where his alleged romp took place, more than four times his £89,951 Westminster salary.
But he has little sign of income outside his parliamentary career.
Companies House records show he has not been a director since 2001. And barring occasional fees for press articles and TV appearances, there are no entries of note on the MPs’ register of interests.
The last private money earned by Mr Vaz declared was in April 2011.
Land Registry files show his £2.2million London house carries a mortgage. Tenants at his Leicester constituency home say the house is rented out at £750 a month.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn insisted it was a “private matter”, adding: “He hasn’t committed any crime that I know of.”
Labour MP Simon Danczuk, also hit by recent sex scandals, questioned whether Mr Vaz’s actions were illegal and urged compassion.
He said: “He’s clearly been struggling with his sexuality.”
It is understood MPs on the committee will demand he goes in face-to-face talks.
