Sting shows UK MP with 4 male prostitutes

LONDON: Keith Vaz, the senior-most British MP of Indian origin, announced his resignation as chairman of a key parliamentary committee after he was caught in a sting

LONDON: Keith Vaz, the senior-most British MP of Indian origin, announced his resignation as chairman of a key parliamentary committee after he was caught in a sting operation with male prostitutes in his London flat, details of which were splashed across tabloids on Sunday.

HT Image

The mass-circulation Sunday Mirror reported that Vaz, who is chairman of the influential Home Affairs Committee of the parliament, paid for the services of four male escorts in August.

A long-time Labour MP from Leicester East, Vaz, 59, is a married father of two children.

The tabloids went to town with photographs from the sting operation, his remarks during the encounter as well as his purported text messages to the male escorts, reported to be European.

After the story broke, Cambridge-educated Vaz suggested that the Sunday Mirror may have paid the male escorts involved in the sting operation.

The committee he chairs has been examining the issue of laws related to prostitution in Britain. In a statement reported by the Mail on Sunday, Vaz said: “I am genuinely sorry for the hurt and distress that has been caused by my actions, in particular to my wife and children.”