People like to have confidence in their politicians. Not just in their ability to play the political game, but also in their ability to fight for issues close to their heart. The moral fabric of that minister has to be intact. This puts Keith Vaz in a political maelstrom.
The Minister for Parliament, Leicester East was caught on tape with male prostitutes, discussing cocaine and party poppers, the latter of which is a lifestyle drug that is very popular in England right now. The tape and screenshots of WhatsApp messages revealed a lot, that the minister pretended to be a washing machine salesman, that he offered to pay for one of the prostitute’s cocaine, and that he also indulged in unprotected sex.
This is a married man with two children, and a man that many in Goa look to as a Goan who has become an outstanding member of society in another country. That façade has been shattered. Now other papers have uncovered CCTV camera footage of Vaz with young men in a London hotel years ago. On further investigation, the hotels have admitted that he was a regular visitor and always in the company of young men. This is damning for Keith Vaz, especially when there are claims that he was drugged and set up for the recent sting.
What is even more intriguing is that Vaz was the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee where he was one of the loudest voices asking for the relaxation of prostitution laws. The committee was opposed to the idea of the ‘sex buyer law’, which transferred the onus of illegality on to those who pay for sex rather than those who sold it. Then there’s also the fact that Vaz has argued that criminalisation of certain drugs, party poppers in particular, on the floor of the House. This puts Vaz in a peculiar position as the conflict of interest here in very apparent.
One could argue that this was indeed a sting, backed by his political opponents, perhaps those who were more conservative in nature. But even then, these are indiscretions that were morally incorrect. It’s not like Vaz is a stranger to controversy either. He’s been in the middle of a media storm with the Lalit Modi visa issue, his u-turn on Salman Rushdie decades ago has been brought up again and his blocking of a probe into child abuse allegations against former Leicester MP Janner is now being seen in a new light. He managed to dodge those bullets then but this recent controversy is made of sterner stuff.
There is very little belief that Vaz will be able to recover from this politically. Perhaps the best way to avoid illicit habits getting exposed is to not indulge in them at all.
