Keith Vaz – “A crook of the first order” Is Referred Back To Met For Rent Boys and Drugs Scandal

On December 15th 2016, Scotland Yard confirmed that Labour MP Keith Vaz will not face charges over claims that he offered to buy cocaine for two rentboys. He has just been referred back to the Met Police.

Vaz, not unaccustomed to controversy at all has had a ‘colourful’ political career so far – and it promises to continue to be so.

Going back into his past political life, it’s not hard to see how Vaz was once described by a colleague as a “crook of the first order.”

 

Dodgy History

Vaz led a march of several thousand Muslims in Leicester in March 1989 calling for Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses to be banned – describing the march as “one of the great days in the history of Islam and Great Britain.” Rushdie the author lived for years under the threat of death for writing the book.

In February 1990, after a bombing attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army against a British Army recruiting centre in Leicester, Vaz publicly wrongly suggested that the Army had stored explosives on the premises.

In February 2000, the Parliamentary standards watchdog Elizabeth Filkin began an investigation after allegations that Vaz had accepted several thousand pounds from a solicitor, Sarosh Zaiwalla, which he had failed to declare. The allegations were made by Andrew Milne, a former partner of Zaiwalla, and were denied by both Vaz and Zaiwalla. He was censured for a single allegation – that he had failed to register two payments worth £4,500 in total from Zaiwalla. Vaz was accused of blocking Filkin’s investigation into the allegations.

In January 2001, Vaz was deeply implicated in the ‘Hinduja Passport Affair‘ – Vaz was sacked from his post as Europe Minister albeit he stated his desire to stand down for health reasons.

In 2002, Vaz was suspended from the House of Commons for one month after a Committee on Standards and Privileges inquiry found that he had made false allegations against Eileen Eggington, a former policewoman. The committee concluded that “Mr Vaz recklessly made a damaging allegation against Miss Eggington to the Commissioner, which was not true, and which could have intimidated Miss Eggington or undermined her credibility.”It was concluded that Vaz had “committed serious breaches of the Code of Conduct and showed contempt for the House”

In 2001, it was revealed that Vaz had assisted Anglo-Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi in his attempts to avoid extradition to France. Opposition MPs called for an investigation into what one dubbed “Hinduja Mark II.” Auchi was wanted for questioning by French police for his alleged role in the notorious Elf Aquitaine fraud scandal which led to the arrest of a former French Foreign Minister.

 

Even after all that – In July 2007, Vaz was elected as the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee.

In September 2008, Vaz faced pressure to explain why he failed to declare an interest when he intervened in an official investigation into the business dealings of a close friend, solicitor Shahrokh Mireskandari, who has played a role in several racial discrimination cases against the Metropolitan Police, and who was representing Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur in his racial discrimination case against Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Ian Blair.

Vaz was also involved in the “detention without charge inquiry, was ranked 45th out of 647 MPs in the MPs expenses scandal, implicated in the Patrick Mercer Affair, was caught illegally using loudspeakers in public for campaigning and finally allegations about Vaz were published by the British Sunday Mirror tabloid in early September 2016 that he had engaged in unprotected sex with male prostitutes and had said he would pay for cocaine if they wished to use it.

Patrick Mercer MP, was recorded describing Vaz as “a crook of the first order“, adding that he had “never met an operator like him… I mean it’s not always completely ethical but it’s stunning, he is an operator.”

 

Police dropped their initial investigation into the Leicester East MP 18 months ago into this sordid matter after Vaz claimed ill health once again. But Parliament’s new Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone has told MPs she is referring the case back to the Met.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: “It appears that the Teflon coating that has historically protected Keith Vaz is now wearing rather thin.”

There’s more to come from this story, particularly as he is not well liked by many in high places – especially the police.

Perhaps, one day, the British public will no longer have to put up with this charlatan.

 

 

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