VAZ THE BRAZEN
MP shrugs off scandal to speak in the Commons He’d met rent boys BEFORE exposé, swapping multiple texts Pressure mounts as he faces vote of no confidence
KEITH Vaz had been in contact with rent boys for several weeks before he was exposed for paying young men for sex, it emerged last night.
The disgraced Labour MP – now facing a parliamentary sleaze inquiry – had regular friendly text communications with the male prostitutes during the summer.
Last night pressure was increasing on the married father-of-two to quit his £90,000-a-year job as chairman of the home affairs select committee, which meets today.
The Labour grandee put on a breathtaking show of defiance yesterday as he broke cover after being exposed on Sunday for paying male escorts for sex and offering to pay for cocaine.
He headed to Westminster after emerging from his London home with his wife of 23 years, Maria Fernandes, who looked grim-faced by his side.
The 59-year-old even made an appearance on the Commons benches, asking a question about Britons fighting for Islamic State. In other developments:
Mr Vaz threatened to sue Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who reported him to the police, Charity Commission and the Commons sleaze watchdog;
The PM declared that the public must have confidence in politicians;
Support for Mr Vaz on the home affairs committee was waning, as a majority of members said his position had become ‘untenable’;
Mr Vaz’s brother-in-law told the Mail the MP had dinner with relatives hours before his alleged sex session;
More questions have emerged about how the purchase of Mr Vaz’s ‘sex flat’ was funded.
Mr Vaz had initially apologised to his wife and children for the ‘hurt and distress’ caused after he was allegedly filmed meeting two rent boys at his flat on August 27, pretending to be a washing machine salesman called Jim.
The MP had also indicated he would step down as chairman of the home affairs committee, after texts allegedly showed he asked the Eastern European sex workers to bring poppers – sex-enhancing drugs – to a liaison.
He has now criticised the tactics used by the Sunday Mirror, suggesting he was entrapped.
But it has become clear that he met the men on at least one occasion before they contacted the newspaper and he had been exchanging text messages with them frequently before the August 27 meeting.
Both men approached the newspaper after one recognised Mr Vaz on TV and claimed to have been previously paid for their services.
The August 27 encounter was filmed by the men, not the newspaper, before details were published last Sunday.
Despite this, the MP shamelessly went on the attack again yesterday, with Mr Bridgen receiving a letter from Mr Vaz’s lawyers warning him he may be sued.
The legal letter said: ‘You have been maliciously spreading false and highly defamatory scuttlebutt about him.’
A source close to Mr Bridgen said the letter from lawyers Howard Kennedy had been ‘an attempt to close down any further investigation and suppress information’.
Silver Star, a diabetes charity set up by Mr Vaz, has brought in law firm Carter Ruck, which denied its client made any inappropriate payments. The Sunday Mirror had claimed money was paid into an account used by one of the escorts by a man linked to the charity. Mr Vaz also denies the allegation.
Asked about the scandal yesterday, Theresa May said: ‘I have always been clear throughout my political career that what is important for people is that they feel that they are able to have confidence in their politicians.
‘That is what I think we all have a duty to provide for those who elect us.’
Mr Vaz met the escorts at a flat he owns near his North London family home, according to the Sunday Mirror.
Last night his brother-inlaw revealed the shamed MP had a family dinner in Leicester hours before stripping off with rent boys and requesting sex without a condom.
Pedro Fernandes, the brother of the MP’s wife, said his sister would be horrified. He said: ‘She will be shocked and find it difficult to believe this because it’s so out of character.
‘We have tried contacting her by phone, but there is no answer. I always thought that Vaz and my sister had a happy
‘He isn’t a party animal’
marriage. He has always been dedicated to his work and he is always busy.
‘He isn’t what you’d call a party animal at all. He normally never drinks – maybe a couple of sips of wine – and he never takes drugs. That’s why I think it could be made up.’
The Labour MP had been at the family get-together on August 27 with his wife and teenage daughter, before he left at around 9.30pm and made his way back to London alone – going to the sex flat.
Meanwhile, experts backed the newspaper exposure of Mr Vaz’s use of male escorts.
Media commentator Roy Greenslade said there had been a clear public interest.
IF he had any shred of dignity left, Keith Vaz would now have apologised, retreated from public view and be desperately trying to atone to his family. But instead, his breathtaking contempt for the electorate saw him speak in the Commons as if nothing was awry. His conflict of interest is clear. He has been caught using rent boys and offering to buy them cocaine, while chairing a committee which scrutinises policy on drugs and prostitution. If he will not resign, he must be removed.