Keith Vaz was shamelessly clinging to power last night after he was exposed for paying rent boys for sex.
The married father of two refused to step down immediately as a Labour MP or from his position as chairman of the Commons home affairs committee.
He said he would wait until tomorrow before revealing whether he would continue in his key role on the panel monitoring crime, migration and sexual exploitation. And he even blamed the scandal on the Sunday newspaper that uncovered his hypocrisy and sordid sex life.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared to back Mr Vaz last night, saying: ‘It should be treated as a private matter.
‘He is going to meet the home affairs committee and discuss with them what his role will be in the future. I’m not sure what that decision will be but I leave it to him to decide on that.
‘He hasn’t committed any crime that I know of. As far as I’m aware it is a private matter and I will obviously talk to Keith.’
Mr Vaz, whose political career has been dogged by scandal, has previously said he is ‘not convinced’ men who pay for sex should be prosecuted. According to the Sunday Mirror, the 59-year-old politician told two male prostitutes: ‘We need to get this party started’ as they discussed unprotected sex.
In a series of texts reproduced by the newspaper he allegedly asked the Eastern Europeans to bring poppers – sex-enhancing drugs – to a liaison. In one meeting with the pair, Mr Vaz is said to have offered to pay for cocaine if it was brought to a sex party. He stressed he did not want any himself.
The rent boys were paid by bank transfer following the session in a £390,000 flat he owns near his £2.2million family home in Edgware, north London. There was no answer at his house yesterday. Last night a string of MPs called on Mr Vaz to step down as committee chairman. Police and the Charity Commission indicated they would investigate if complaints were made about his conduct.
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