Keith Vaz finally steps aside

Keith Vaz has finally stepped down as chairman of the Home Affairs select committee following allegations surrounding a pair of male prostitutes. In a statement (which was published on Twitter ahead of an embargo), Vaz had this to say:

It is in the best interest of the Home Affairs Select Committee that its important work can be conducted without any distractions whatsoever. I am genuinely sorry that recent events make it impossible for this to happen if I remain chair. The integrity of the select committee system matters to me. Those who hold others to account must themselves be accountable.

That Vaz has bowed to pressure might not seem a surprise but his eventual decision to quit wasn’t for a lack of effort in attempting to cling on and persevere in the post.

Yesterday, the Labour MP put on a brave face as he asked questions as normal in the Commons. The stone-cold silence from his fellow MPs spoke for itself though. And today Vaz was facing the prospect of a possible vote of no confidence in his position as chair of the Home Affairs Committee, a role he has held since last June. Allies of Vaz were briefing this morning that Vaz could survive such a vote; the Telegraph reported a source who said ‘not one’ of the six Tories, three Labour MPs and SNP MP sitting on the committee wanted him to go. That looked, to put it gently, like misplaced optimism. And clearly now Vaz has realised that for himself, in making his decision to stand down from the Home Affairs Committee. But this being Keith Vaz, it’s unlikely that’s the last we’ll see of him. Expect to see him pop up on the backbenches again as soon as tomorrow.