A VERY English Scandal

screenwriter Russell T. Davies, who depicted the late Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe in the TV series starring Hugh Grant, has set his sights on another disgraced politician. ‘Keith Vaz was pretending to be a washing machine salesman and bringing rent boys to his hotel room. I’m going to write that — it’s a great story,’ he tells me at a party in Westminster, referring to the former chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee who was forced to resign after his pecadilloes were laid bare. ‘The world of politics keeps throwing up mad men, it keeps throwing up scandal, and I want to write it all,’ Davies adds. ‘I don’t know who would play Keith. That needs a bit more thought.’