Married Labour MP Keith Vaz was caught paying two Eastern European male prostitutes for sex. He referred to himself as their “pimp” and “bank manager”, and asked them to bring the sex-enhancing drug poppers to their meeting. He also offered to pay for one escort’s cocaine.
The Mirror on Sunday exposed the Labour MP who was overseeing the reformation of Britain’s prostitution laws.
He has since resigned as chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, which monitors crime, drugs, and immigration.
In a series of texts revealed by the paper, the father of two planned to meet with at least two male escorts from Eastern Europe for sex eight days ago at the flat he owns near his family home in Edgware, North West London.
The former chairman of a group probing vice had previously said he was not convinced that men who paid for sex should face prosecution.
Before the rendezvous on the 28th of August, one escort texted the MP informing him that a third prostitute, a Romanian, would be joining them. Mr. Vaz replied: “How will this work, do you want me to fuck him first or all together?”
He then asked whether the Romanian spoke English and if he liked poppers.
The Labour MP for Leicester East since 1987 had defended the use of poppers in Parliament when it faced a ban.
When the escort said the Romanian preferred cocaine, Mr. Vaz said that he would cover the cost of any cocaine he brought (though declined to use any of the drugs himself).
Mr. Vaz was then asked for a meeting time, and replied by text: “11pm nice and late. I want a good time please.”
However, when the two prostitutes showed up without the Romanian, Mr. Vaz asked: “What about this Romanian? What does he look like? Have you got pictures?”
Mr. Vaz, who had turned up at Luton airport to welcome the arrivals on the day Romania joined the EU in 2014, added: “We like Eastern Europeans, they’re nice.”
Keen for a third man to join him, he began examining snaps of men on the gay dating mobile app Grindr, which uses GPS to find men nearby. When shown the profile of an Asian man by one of the escorts, the MP replied: “He is fit.”
Mr. Vaz eventually said: “We need to get this party started.”
Whilst talking to the escorts, Mr. Vaz admitted that he had had sex with another escort without a condom. When asked by one of the prostitutes if he knew whether the escort was clear of sexually transmitted diseases the MP admitted: “I don’t know.”
The MP, who had fronted a safe sex campaign in his constituency, had said that he didn’t want to use a condom this time, either.
In response to the Mirror’s reporting, Mr. Vaz said: “I have referred these allegations to my solicitor Mark Stephens, of Howard Kennedy, who will consider them carefully and advise me on what is published.”
Today he issued a statement to the Mail on Sunday which said: “I am genuinely sorry for the hurt and distress that has been caused by my actions in particular to my wife and children.
“I will be informing the Committee on Tuesday of my intention to stand aside from chairing the sessions of the Committee with immediate effect.”