Keith Vaz, Labour MP, has been made to stand down as Chair of Home Affairs Select Committee after allegations emerged that he paid for male prostitutes using funds from a Labour charity.
The Charity Commission is reportedly looking into claims that the 59-year-old paid for services using money from an individual linked to the Silver Star diabetes charity. The charity was set up six years ago to raise awareness of the disease.
Bank statements from one of the Eastern European male prostitutes show two payments of £150 from a man with connections to the charity. The Leicester MP has strongly denied the claims and even suggested he was the victim of a ‘sting’ attack by the Sunday Mirror. According to the Telegraph, a friend of Vaz’s said “The people who paid this money had nothing to do with Silver Star.”
Jeremy Corbyn has said “[Vaz] is going to meet the Home Affairs Select Committee and discuss with them what his role will be in the future, I’m not sure what his decision will be I will leave it to him to decide on that.
“He has not committed any crime that I know of, as far I’m aware it is a private matter.”
In a statement, Vaz said, “It is deeply disturbing that a national newspaper should have paid individuals to have acted in this way. I have referred these allegations to my solicitor who will consider them carefully and advise me accordingly.
“At this time I do not want there to be any distraction from the important work the home affairs select committee undertakes so well.
“Select committees do vital work in holding the government and others to account. I will of course inform committee members first of my plans when we meet on Tuesday. My decision has been based entirely on what is in the best interests of the committee which I have had the privilege of chairing for the last nine years.”
