The Strictly Come Dancing star and former Labour minister says the disgraced MP will go as chair of the Home Affairs committee
STRICTLY star Ed Balls told Piers Morgan he thinks Keith Vaz WILL step down from powerful Home Affairs committee over the male prostitute scandal threatening to derail his career.
The former Labour minister was asked if the disgraced MP will resign as its chairman on Good Morning Britain, saying “I think he will”.
It comes as the 57-year-old is due to meet colleagues on the committee to discuss his future today, with sources suggesting he will be given his marching orders.
Ahead of the showdown talks in Parliament one member said: “He will try to cling on at all costs but the tide is rolling in.”
Another added: “It’s all rather sordid, but taken in isolation the offering to buy cocaine thing makes his position untenable. Could he really ever chair another session on drugs again?”
Speaking on the breakfast TV show Mr Balls, who is in training ahead of the first live episodes of Strictly Come Dancing, seemed to agree.
Presenter Piers Morgan asked: “One word answer, and you can do this now you’re not a politician and haven’t got to bang on for hours, should Keith Vaz resign from the Home Affairs Committee?”
The ex-Shadow Chancellor said: “I think he will.”
He was pressed for a “one word” answer, repeating the same reply, before eventually saying: “I think in the end, yes.”
Committee insiders said the MPs would listen to Mr Vaz’s side of the story then make it clear he cannot possibly sit in on further business.
They are then prepared to give him 24 hours to decide whether he really does want to try and stay in his role or not.
“I understand he’s proposing to come to the meeting and test the water, I don’t think that he has the numbers to survive and I rather hope he will come to that conclusion himself,” one added.
The veteran MP, who has publicly apologised to his wife and children for the “hurt and distress” he caused them, is facing a possible investigation by Commons’ sleaze watchdogs as the fallout from reports that he paid two male escorts for their services threatens to overwhelm his career.
And he is facing further questions after he was caught on CCTV meeting a younger man at a London hotel two years ago.
The high-profile Leicester East representative brazenly returned to work in the House of Commons yesterday, just 24 hours after the scandal broke.
He has faced numerous calls to step aside from the Home Affairs committee, which he has chaired since 2007, including criticism from the Prime Minister.
When asked about the situation Theresa May said voters must be able to have “confidence” in their politicians after the allegations emerged.
But the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he is not getting involved, instead responding that it is a “family matter”.
