Labour MP Keith Vaz has stepped down as chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee.
It follows newspaper claims he paid for the services of two male sex workers.
He said: “It is in the best interest of the Home Affairs Select Committee that its important work can be conducted without any distractions whatsoever.
“I am genuinely sorry that recent events make it impossible for this to happen if I remain chair. ”
- Follow the latest developments with BBC Politics Live
- In full: Keith Vaz’s resignation statement
At the weekend, the Sunday Mirror published pictures it said showed Mr Vaz with male sex workers in a flat in north London that he owns. Illegal drugs were mentioned during a secretly recorded conversation.
Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said he would refer the matter to the Commons Standards commissioner and may also report Mr Vaz to police.
Married father-of-two Mr Vaz said he was referring the paper’s allegations to his solicitor.
On Monday, Prime Minister Theresa May said the public must have confidence in its politicians, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was a “private matter”.
Keith Vaz biography
- Born in 1956 to Goan parents in Aden in what is now Yemen, he went to Cambridge University where he studied law and then became a solicitor
- The Labour Party politician has been MP for Leicester East since 1987
- He is Parliament’s longest-serving British Asian MP and has chaired the influential Home Affairs Select Committee since 2007
- He was Britain’s Minister for Europe under Tony Blair and said the vote to leave the EU was a “catastrophe”
- His sister Valerie is Labour MP for Walsall South
Keith Vaz – the ‘Teflon politician’
Mr Vaz was due to meet his colleagues on the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee later on Tuesday, but decided ahead of it to step down from the chairman role he has held for nine years.
In his statement he said: “The integrity of the Select Committee system matters to me. Those who hold others to account, must themselves be accountable.
“I am immeasurably proud of the work the Committee has undertaken over the last nine years, and I am privileged to have been the longest serving Chair of this Committee.
“This work has included the publication of 120 reports, hearing evidence from Ministers 113 times, and hearing from a total of 1379 witnesses. I am very pleased that so many Members of the Committee have gone onto high office and Ministerial positions.
“This is my decision, and mine alone, and my first consideration has been the effect of recent events on my family.”
Mr Vaz said he had recommended that the former Conservative minister Tim Loughton takes over as chairman of the committee pending the full process of MPs electing his successor in the role.
He added: “I would like to thank my fellow members of the Committee, past and present, for their tremendous support. I would also like to thank the Clerks of the House for the amazing work they have done to strengthen the Select Committee system, we are not quite on par with the United States, but we are getting there.”
On Twitter, Labour MP Chuka Umunna, who sits on the Home Affairs committee, said Mr Vaz had done a “fine job” as chairman, but said he had made the right decision in stepping down.
[Source:-BBC]
