Commons Speaker John Bercow1 stopped an MP from making allegations about sex scandal colleague Keith Vaz2 a year ago. Andrew Bridgen, Tory MP for North West Leicestershire 15 miles from Mr Vaz s Leicester East constituency wrote to the Speaker on September 3 last year. Mr Bridgen said that should the allegations be substantiated then Labour s Mr Vaz should be suspended as chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee.
Five days later Mr Bercow replied that he had no power to remove a select committee chair and warned Mr Bridgen not to use Parliamentary privilege to raise the matter in a Commons debate.
Caters 
Andrew Bridgen wrote to Mr Vaz about his concerns
The Speaker said: It would be inappropriate for you to make allegations of this nature against a colleague on the floor of the House
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On December 8 Mr Bridgen wrote to Mr Vaz and raised the allegations with him. Married Mr Vaz, 59, replied two days later, saying: The suggestion you make is highly defamatory.
Keith Vaz with prostitutes
The new revelations emerged after Westminster was rocked by details of Mr Vaz s meetings with male escorts exclusively told by the Sunday Mirror.
Eoin Carey/PA 
John Bercow stopped Mr Bridgen from making allegations about Mr Vaz
He paid for sex at his London flat while chair of the select committee, which had been reviewing Britain s stance on prostitution and drugs. Mr Bridgen said: I was dismayed when the Speaker appeared to dismiss my concerns out of hand.
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To the casual observer these events had all the hallmarks of an establishment cover-up. My concerns regarding Mr Vaz long preceded the Sunday Mirror revelations.
Two male escorts told how they had been meeting up with the MP. At the last rendezvous, on August 27, they went to his flat near his 2.1million family home in Edgware, North West London.
Sunday Mirror 
Mr Vaz met the male escorts in his flat
Father-of-two Mr Vaz had earlier texted the pair asking them to bring poppers, the sex-enhancing drug. One escort sent a message saying he was buying the drug and the MP replied: Great. The men arrived at 11.30pm and the conversation turned to sex as Mr Vaz said: We need to get this party started.
Sunday Mirror 
Mr Vaz asked the men to bring poppers
There was much talk of a possible fourth man joining them a Romanian. The escorts said he liked cocaine while having sex and Mr Vaz offered to pay for the drug next time .
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But the MP made it clear he did not want any cocaine himself.
Sunday Mirror 
Mr Vaz after the alleged rendezvous
The escorts said that when they asked Mr Vaz his name he said it was Jim then spelt it out, J-I-M and that he sold industrial washing machines. Last night the men insisted they were right to expose Mr Vaz.
Mr Vaz’s constituents protest outside his Leicester offices asking him to stand down
One said: Some people may be upset by what we did. But we believe exposing a public person for this is the right thing.
Vaz has two lives Jim and Keith. He s the biggest liar I ve ever met and the best actor.
Mr Vaz has resigned as chair of the Home Affairs Committee.
But he has not stepped down from an influential post on a Commons security council and has vowed to stay on as an MP.
References
- ^ John Bercow (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Keith Vaz (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^