Labour MP Keith Vaz in hospital as he faces Commons suspension over ‘willingness to buy cocaine’
Labour MP Keith Vaz is in hospital following the release of a report which suggested he should be suspended for six months after he was found to have “expressed willingness” to purchase cocaine for others.
A statement on his website said last night: “Keith Vaz has been treated for a serious mental-health condition for the last three years as a result of the events of 27 August 2016.
“He has shared all the medical reports in confidence with the committee.
“He has nothing further to say on this matter other than what was said in his oral and written statements to the committee and to the commissioner.
“He has today been admitted to hospital and this office will not be making any further comments.”
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog concluded on Monday that he had committed a “very serious breach” of the Commons code of conduct over an incident first reported in September 2016.
MPs will now have to vote on whether to enforce the recommended action. If they do, it could trigger the process for constituents of the Leicester East MP to unseat him and force a by-election.
Mr Vaz was subject to an investigation by the parliamentary standards committee after a Sunday Mirror report claimed more than three years ago that Mr Vaz paid two male escorts for sex and offered to buy cocaine for others to use.
Mr Vaz claimed he met the two men “to discuss the interior decoration of his flat” and that he may have been given a “spiked drink” but declined to comment on details “on grounds of the medical condition of amnesia”.
The standards committee said that was “not believable and, indeed, ludicrous”.
It found he had failed to “cooperate fully” with the inquiry and “caused significant damage of the reputation and integrity” of the Commons.
Kathryn Stone, the commissioner for standards, dismissed allegations Mr Vaz had any involvement in the use of drugs relevant to the home affairs select committee’s then-inquiry into psychoactive substances.
But she did rule he had shown “apparent willingness to purchase controlled drugs for others to use”.
“He has failed, repeatedly, to answer direct questions; he has given incomplete answers and his account has, in parts, been incredible,” Ms Stone added.
Mr Vaz was a highly influential MP as chairman of the home affairs select committee, which includes oversight of government drugs policy, but left the role in September 2016.
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