http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/07/world/europe/uk-keith-vaz-prostitutes.html 2016-09-06 15:30:08 Keith Vaz, British Lawmaker, Quits Senior Post Amid Sex and Drug Scandal The high-profile Labour politician resigned as head of a Home Office oversight committee after a tabloid reported he had met two men working as prostitutes. === LONDON — Caught in what appeared to be a classic British newspaper exposé, an opposition lawmaker on Tuesday relinquished leadership of an influential parliamentary committee over allegations that he paid for the services of prostitutes and offered to buy drugs for them. Two days after “I am genuinely sorry that recent events make it impossible for this to happen if I remain chair,” Mr. Vaz said in a statement. After the allegations were published on Sunday, Mr. Vaz argued that it was “deeply disturbing that a national newspaper should have paid individuals to have acted in this way,” adding that he would refer the report to his lawyers. Britain’s freewheeling tabloid press has been more restrained in recent times, following scandals over phone hacking that led to an inquiry into ethical standards at the country’s newspapers. The Sunday Mirror sought to justify its report by pointing to the political responsibilities of Mr. Vaz, suggesting that his conduct had compromised his ability to fulfill his duties. As chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons, he enjoyed a prominent role in oversight of the Home Office, the department that controls the country’s policy on, among other things, drugs and prostitution. Even before his announcement on Tuesday, some politicians had suggested that his resignation was inevitable. John Whittingdale, who served as culture secretary under former Prime Minister David Cameron, said on Sunday that he understood that Mr. Vaz would relinquish his leadership of the committee. “Given the areas of which the committee is responsible, that does seem to me to be a sensible course of action,” Mr. Whittingdale told Sky News. According to the Sunday Mirror, Mr. Vaz, who is the married father of two children, met with two men identified by the tabloid as prostitutes on August 27 at an apartment in London. Before meeting with the two men, Mr. Vaz texted one of the escorts and asked him to bring Mr. Vaz also discussed paying for cocaine but said he would not consume it, the paper reported. In Parliament Mr. Vaz has argued against including poppers in a list of banned substances. During the encounter Mr. Vaz told the men that his name was Jim and that he was a salesman for industrial washing machines, the Mirror reported, but one of the escorts recognized the lawmaker from his television appearances.