London: A senior British lawmaker resigned from his position as head of an influential parliamentary committee on Tuesday after becoming embroiled in a scandal involving drugs and male prostitutes.
Keith Vaz from the opposition Labour Party, a married father of two and one of the first British Asian ministers, was recorded paying two escorts for their services, according to a report in the Sunday Mirror.
"Those who hold others to account must themselves be accountable," Vaz said in a statement.
He said he was stepping down to allow the committee's "important work" to be carried out "without any distractions whatsoever".
"I am genuinely sorry that recent events make it impossible for this to happen if I remain chair," he said.
Vaz, a 59-year-old former Europe minister under ex-premier Tony Blair, chairs a powerful home affairs parliamentary committee which conducts probes into immigration, drugs policies and sex workers.
The story, recounted in lurid detail typical of Britain's aggressive tabloid press, has provoked a debate about whether the newspaper intruded unfairly into Vaz's private life.
The Sunday Mirror has justified its reporting on the basis that there is a public interest in exposing Vaz given his role in scrutinising legislation on sex workers and drugs.
In a statement to the Mail on Sunday, Vaz attacked the journalists while adding: "I am genuinely sorry for the hurt and distress that has been caused by my actions."
Vaz was filmed and recorded meeting the escorts at a flat he owns near his home in north London last month, according to the report.
In one conversation with an escort published in the tabloid and its sister publication the Daily Mirror, Vaz reportedly offered to buy cocaine for a later date, although he said he would not take any himself.
He also asked an escort to bring the party drug poppers with him for their encounter. Vaz has previously said in parliament that he would vote to ban poppers if the drug was proved to be harmful.
Vaz, who was born in Yemen to parents from the Indian state of Goa, was first elected to parliament in 1987 for Leicester East in central England.
British Prime Minister Theresa May told reporters on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China on Monday that voters must be able to have "confidence" in their politicians, adding, "What Keith does is for Keith, and any decisions he wishes to make are for him".
Bridgen, who represents North West Leicestershire constituency which neighbours Vaz's Leicester East constituency, has since received a letter from law firm Howard
Kennedy accusing him of "maliciously spreading false and highly defamatory scuttlebutt" about Vaz.
Vaz, the long-serving lawmaker, was one of the most influential members of the House of Commons through his work on a committee that deals with law and order issues.
His sister, Valerie Vaz, is also a sitting Labour MP from Walsall South and his wife, Maria Fernandes, is a practising lawyer.
