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Police to assess Keith Vaz allegations Police to assess Keith Vaz allegations
(35 minutes later)
Scotland Yard is to “assess and identify what criminal offences, if any, may have been committed” in relation to allegations involving the MP Keith Vaz. Police are looking into allegations against Keith Vaz to establish whether he has committed any criminal offences, Scotland Yard has said.
The Labour politician stood down as chair of the home affairs select committee on Tuesday following three days of allegations involving sex workers and drugs. The MP for Leicester East stood down as chair of the home affairs select committee on Tuesday, two days after the Sunday Mirror published the allegations. The paper said he paid two male escorts and offered to pay for cocaine if it was brought to a future meeting. He stressed that the drug was not for himself, and no cocaine was ever bought, the report said.
According to the Sunday Mirror, Vaz allegedly had a conversation about cocaine with a male sex worker in which the MP said he did not want to use the drug, but indicated he would pay for it for the other man at a later date. A Metropolitan police spokesman said on Friday that it had received a letter requesting that the force consider the allegations.
The MP for Leicester East told committee members he had talked to Jeremy Corbyn’s office before announcing his decision to stand down from his role. “The letter has been forwarded to the Met’s special inquiry team, part of specialist crime and operations, to assess and identify what criminal offences – if any – may have been committed,” the spokesman said. “At this stage a police investigation has not been launched.”
Following the revelations, the Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who has been highly critical of Vaz, indicated he would write to Scotland Yard to call for Vaz to be investigated for misconduct in a public office and conspiracy to supply controlled substances. Following the allegations, the Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who has been highly critical of Vaz, indicated that he would write to police to request an investigation.
The Metropolitan police released a statement on Friday saying: “Following allegations in the Sunday Mirror on Sunday 4 September concerning a member of parliament, the Metropolitan Police Service can confirm a letter was received on Wednesday, 7 September requesting police consider the matter. It is unclear what offences Vaz could be deemed to have committed. The exchange of sexual services for money is legal in England, and as no cocaine appears to have been bought, he could not be said to have supplied it under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
“The letter has been forwarded to the Met’s special inquiry team, part of specialist crime and operations, to assess and identify what criminal offences – if any – may have been committed. The Sunday Mirror claimed that money was paid into the bank account of one of the escorts on behalf of Vaz by a man linked to a diabetes charity set up by the MP. But there was no suggestion that the charity’s money was used in the affair or that the man knew what the payment was for.
“At this stage a police investigation has not been launched.” The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said of Vaz on Sunday: “He has not committed any crime that I know of.”
Vaz 59, a married father of two, has condemned the conduct of the Sunday Mirror, saying it was “deeply troubling that a national newspaper should have paid individuals who have acted in this way”. On Tuesday Vaz said: “Those who hold others to account must themselves be accountable.” He said he was resigning from the committee in order that “its important work can be conducted without any distractions whatsoever”.
He has not commented on the truth or otherwise of the allegations, which were set out in the paper over five pages accompanied by pictures that appear to have been recorded covertly. He was accused of a conflict of interest after the allegations were printed, as the committee is currently investigating prostitution. In preliminary findings published in July, it said the Home Office should change the law so that soliciting was no longer an offence.
Vaz said then: “Treating soliciting as a criminal offence is having an adverse effect, and it is wrong that sex workers, who are predominantly women, should be penalised and stigmatised in this way. The criminalisation of sex workers should therefore end.”
He has apologised to his family over the allegations but condemned the tactics of the newspaper’s reporters, saying it was “deeply troubling that a national newspaper should have paid individuals who have acted in this way”.