Keith Vaz

Gordon Brown attempted to bribe MP with honour to push through terror legislation, alleges UK press

Censorship nutter MP Keith Vaz has been offered a knighthood by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, UK national newspapers have alleged.

According to The Times and The Guardian, there have been ‘strong hints’ that Vaz was offered the honour as part of a series of bribes from Brown to Labour MPs, in return for them voting for his controversial new terror detention laws.

Vaz, MP for Leicester East , has ‘strongly denied’ the rumour.

Censorial MP Keith Vaz is fighting to cling on to his position following the leak of a letter to The Daily Telegraph which suggested he could expect to be “rewarded” for backing the Government in a crucial vote on anti-terrorism laws.

Keith Vaz, the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, received a handwritten note from Geoff Hoon, the chief whip, which said he hoped Vaz would be appropriately rewarded for supporting laws to detain terror suspects for 42 days without charge.

Members of the Home Affairs Select Committee have said that Vaz had questions which need to be addressed.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, is understood to be “appalled” at the contents of the letter and raised the issue in the House of Commons.

Gordon Brown tells Keith Vaz I didn't try to bribe you.

Keith Vaz, the chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, has challenged Gordon Brown to confirm he was not bribed ahead of the vote on 42 days.

Keith Vaz was originally opposed to the proposed counter-terrorism measures but later offered his full backing

Appearing alongside other committee chairman at their regular grilling of the Prime Minister, Vaz asked Brown about the Telegraph's revelation that he received a letter from Geoff Hoon, the Chief Whip, saying he hoped he would be "rewarded" for supporting the Government's anti-terror plans: Is it the case that you authorised or offered any backbench Member of Parliament a peerage or a knighthood or honour, or even the Governorship of Bermuda in order to vote for your legislation?

Brown replied: Not at all. Nor do I recall sending any letters to anyone.

See full article from the Daily Mail

Keith Vaz has been given a plush new office in Westminster. He moved into the sought-after room – which boasts a Thames view – following the death of its previous occupant Gwyneth Dunwoody.

However, both Geoff Hoon and Gordon Brown vociferously denied that the office was his reward for doing so.

A senior Labour MP is facing demands for a sleaze inquiry after intervening in a court case on behalf of a party donor.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the influential home affairs select committee, urged the High Court to delay proceedings involving a friend from whom he and his family had received lavish hospitality.

We can reveal that the friend - controversial lawyer Shahrokh Mireskandari - was on the brink of losing a long-running legal costs battle with an airline when Vaz intervened.

Keith Vaz urged a judge to delay proceedings against his friend who was on the brink of losing a legal battle worth £400,000

The stakes were high as the lawyer is desperately challenging a court order to pay £400,000 in costs to the liquidator of the airline. He is now facing a bankruptcy action after losing his latest appeal.

At a critical point in the case Vaz wrote to the High Court asking the presiding judge to adjourn proceedings pending the outcome of complaints by Mireskandari about how the case had been previously handled, involving hotly contested allegations of racism and bias.

Legal sources said the judge was furious at what he perceived to be 'political interference'.

...Read full article from dailymail.co.uk

Update: Sleaze Inquiry Opens on Keith Vaz

3rd October 2008. See Sleaze inquiry opens from dailymail.co.uk

A sleaze inquiry opened yesterday into claims Keith Vaz abused his position as a Labour MP by doing favours for a friend and convicted fraudster.

Vaz could have to quit as chairman of the home affairs select committee if he is censured over his links with the controversial lawyer Dr Shahrokh Mireskandari.

The Daily Mail revealed that ex-minister Vaz had asked a High Court judge to halt proceedings in a case involving Mireskandari.

Vaz also faced accusations he misled another MP over the extent of his links with the millionaire, whose firm has given donations to Labour.

John Lyon, the parliamentary standards commissioner, opened the inquiry after receiving a complaint alleging Vaz had breached the MPs' code of conduct.

Keith Vaz looked increasingly isolated last night after his position as chairman of an influential Commons committee was called into question by senior MPs.

He is likely to come under pressure to stand down at a meeting of the Home Affairs Select Committee following revelations in the Daily Mail that he intervened in a court case on behalf of a crooked friend.

In line with Parliamentary convention, members of the committee are refusing to criticise him publicly. But such is the level of anger that some have sanctioned friends to make their feelings clear.

One said last night: Vaz limps from drama to drama and it is about time he looked at his position. Another said that they expected Vaz's conduct to be brought up in a closed session today, while a third source close to an MP on the committee claimed that the chairman's behaviour stinks.

As the pressure on him increased throughout, Vaz also faced a censure motion from the Commons over claims he abused his position.

Tory MP Douglas Carswell said: If these press reports are true, Vaz must quit as chairman of the Commons select committee. His position is simply not tenable, and the longer he stays, the more he brings the entire farcical Commons into yet further disrepute.

Fellow Tory MP Andrew Robathan added: It is entirely inappropriate that the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee should write to the Royal Courts of Justice expressing an opinion on a case before the courts.

Vaz is likely to escape a full-scale sleaze inquiry because he has already been cleared of wrongdoing over his links to Mireskandari by Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon.

The greatest pressure is likely to come from colleagues in the Commons, including those on the committee. Vaz did not receive the consent of fellow committee members to make his attempt to help Mireskandari, a convicted conman.

One MP said: If anyone writes in the capacity of a position on a select committee, then that letter should be circulated so that it has the agreement of the committee as a whole. Failing to do so deserves at the very least a warning and admonishment, and such actions could be considered a sacking offence.

Vaz has so far refused justify his intervention as select committee chairman.

Four of Gordon Brown's ministers are exposed for milking the parliamentary MPs' expenses system and pushing their claims to the limit.

The Daily Telegraph's files show that Barbara Follett, the Tourism Minister; Phil Woolas, the Immigration Minister; Ben Bradshaw, the Health Minister; and Phil Hope, the Care Services Minister, have exploited the MPs' expenses system.

The questionable expense claims of two former ministers, Keith Vaz and Barry Gardiner, are also disclosed.

Keith Vaz, the former minister who now chairs the Home Affairs select committee, bought and furnished a flat in central London at taxpayers' expense despite living just 12 miles away with his wife in a £1.15 million property. He claimed more than £75,000 for the flat.

Vaz also changed his designated second home for a single year to a property he owns in his Leicester constituency. During this year – 2007-08 – he claimed £1,000 for a table and chairs, £750 on new carpets, and £2,614 for a pair of leather armchairs. He also claimed for 22 cushions, including 17 made from silk costing £15 each. During the course of the year he rented out his London flat.

Early Day Motion EDM 340

Submitted by Keith Vaz

That this House

• notes with grave concern that despite the 18 rating that the most violent video games carry, some children and teenagers are still able to acquire them;
   
• congratulates the work of Mothers Against Violence with regard to their campaign to increase parental awareness of violent games;
   
• urges the Government to support the promotion of parental awareness of the violent content of video games which are 18-rated; and
   
• calls on the Government to urge Pan-European Game Information to take further steps to highlight the inappropriate content of these games for under 18s.

Keith Vaz has widened his blame game in Swedish territory. He has posted the following Early Day Motion before the British parliament

VIDEO GAMES AND SHOOTING 27.10.2010

That this House notes with concern that the recent race shootings in Malmo, Sweden have been associated with the violent video game Counter-Strike; further notes that the internet-based, first-person shooting game that pits a counter-terrorist team against terrorists was previously banned in Brazil and in 2007 was associated with US College Campus massacres; recognises the potential impact of violent video games on those under 18 years; and calls on the Government to ensure the purchase of video games by those under 18 years is controlled and that parents are provided with clear information on the violent content of certain games.

The background is that police in the Swedish city of Malmo have confirmed that an as yet unnamed 38 year old man has been arrested in connection with a series of gun attacks on people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

Prior to the arrest, local police had suspected that more than a dozen unsolved shootings over the last year, in which one person died and eight more were wounded, may have been the work of lone gunman. The man arrested at the weekend has now been charged with one count of murder and seven attempted murders.

So how do we get from racist nutjob shooting at the local migrant population to a three-year old video game?

It appears to have been The Times that decided to have a bit of dabble in stirring up a faux moral panic by quoting the opinions of a Mr Ahmad al-Mughrabi in its coverage of the story…

I am sure that this is down to some crazy kid who plays that sniping game Counterstrike all day. I don't believe in the lone Nazi theory

So who is our mysterious Mr al-Mughrabi? Is he a police officer? A city official? A representative of the Swedish Justice Ministry?

No, as far as anyone has managed to ascertain, to date, he's just some bloke that The Times picked off the street at random and that's all the evidence that Keith Vaz needs to put down an EDM and start banging on about violent video games, yet again.

Keith Vaz surprised a few parliamentarians when he turned up an event in support of gaming.

Parliament Games Day was organised by pressure group Gamers' Voice to bring together politicians and the industry to promote the cultural and economic strengths of British software.

Vaz told Eurogamer: I've never been against games. I've been against violent games that are able to fall into the hands of young people who are perhaps not able to understand the implications of what they're doing.

I don't oppose games, he inisted. I just think it's very important that people respect and acknowledge the age limits. And the campaign has always been about ensuring there is proper labelling so that people know exactly what kind of games they should have.

Asked if he was happy with the new games classification system – still waiting to be passed into law – Vaz said he felt it was moving in the right direction. When we started this campaign the age limit was the size of half a, I think, a 5p coin, which was very small, he explained. Obviously we want to see what PEGI does, but the more that they can draw to the attention of young people the need to respect the age limit better – and if you're over 18 you can do what you want. No-one wants to stop you playing your games.

The rollout of the new PEGI video games classification system will miss its current April 2010 deadline and will not be introduced until July of this year at the earliest.

The Video Standards Council (VSC) will then take over administration of producer assigned games ratings using PEGI symbols and classifications.

The Conservative culture minister Ed Vaizey has admitted that: There's been some technical delays to iron out a few kinks – nothing fundamental, nothing serious. And we'll crack on with it as fast as we can.

mcvuk.com believes that the delay is due to the time it will take to obtain European parliamentary approval.

Indecision over whether games featuring video content still need a BBFC certificate has temporarily derailed the implementation of PEGI ratings.

The handover from the BBFC to the VSC will not now occur until September at the very earliest.

A new government proposal states that interactive entertainment which features linear content (such as trailers) would require a BBFC rating. That means a game that features a video in it will need to have both a PEGI and BBFC label on the box.

UKIE representing UK games producers condemned the proposal, saying in a statement:

Any dual labelling is contrary to the principles that were established in having PEGI introduced into the Digital Economy Act and if this proposal were implemented we believe it would only cause unnecessary and potentially harmful consumer confusion.

MP Keith Vaz appeared on the BBC Radio Three show, hosted by Ben Jackson, on the subject of the amount of time that children spend playing video games.

Vaz contributed:

The internet can be used as a force for good and video games can provide the opportunity for people, young people to be able enjoy themselves. But the concern is the length of time they are spending on the internet and playing video games and also, and perhaps more importantly, the fact that those video games that have adult content are being seen by those under the age of 18.

The problem with the gamers is that they go berserk any time anyone says anything about these video games as if they were the Holy Grail of entertainment.

I cite as my evidence a Mr Miyamoto, the creator of one of the greatest video games ever - Super Mario, Vaz added, who suggested in an article in The Times on 22nd April that young people should drop their joypads and venture out into the sunlight once in a while. If someone like that can say it then it is something that we need to be concerned about.

Vaz revealed that his two teenage children have game consoles and I'm constantly telling my son to come off of his machine. But it is a bit of a battle and one doesn't want to upset one's children, he said, especially when they're teenagers ha ha ha ha.

Keith Vaz, perennial whinger about computer games has compiled his usual parliamentary motion call for more censorship of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Early Day Motion 2427

Primary sponsor: Keith Vaz
Sponsors: Jeremy Corbyn, Alan Meale, Bob Russell*

That this House:

• is deeply concerned about the recently released video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, in which players engage in gratuitous acts of violence against members of the public;

• notes in particular the harrowing scenes in which a London Underground train is bombed by terrorists, bearing a remarkable resemblance to the tragic events of 7 July 2005;

• further notes that there is increasing evidence of a link between perpetrators of violent crime and violent video games users; and

• calls on the British Board of Film Classification to take further precautions when allowing a game to be sold.

Supported by Martin Caton, Mike Hancock, Kelvin Hopkins,  Dr William McCrea, Sandra Osborne and David Simpson

Update: Counterstrike

24th November 2011. See article from parliament.uk

Tom Watson gamely proposes to amend the Vaz EDM by replacing it entirely.

EDM Amendment 2427A1 - CALL OF DUTY 3

Primary sponsor: Tom Watson
Sponsors: Julian Huppert, Kerry McCarthy

That this House notes:

• that the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) gave the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 an 18 classification, noting that 'the game neither draws upon nor resembles real terrorist attacks on the underground;

• further believes that the game has an excellent user interface and challenges the gamers' dexterity as well as collaborative skills in an outline setting; and

• encourages the BBFC to uphold the opinion of the public that whilst the content of video games may be unsettling or upsetting to some, adults should be free to choose their own entertainment in the absence of legal issues or material which raises a risk or harm.

Business of the House
House of Commons
1st December 2011

Keith Vaz (Leicester East, Labour)

Could we have a debate next week about the harmful effects of violent video games? Last week, the university of Indiana published research that showed that regularly playing those games resulted in physical changes in the brain. At a time when parents are thinking of purchasing video games for Christmas, does the right hon. Gentleman not think that it is important to hold a debate on this matter? This is not about censorship---it is about protecting our children.

George Young (Leader of the House of Commons, House of Commons; North West Hampshire, Conservative)

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, and I know that this is an issue that he has pursued with vigour for some time. I cannot promise a debate next week. Home Office questions, I think, will be held on 12 December, but in the meantime I will draw his concern to the attention of the Home Secretary.

Last week Game Politics pointed out that the research cited was in fact supported by the Center for Successful Parenting, Indiana. This is in fact a nutter group with a website that is designed for parents to learn about the negative side effects of violent video. See article about the cited research from melonfarmers.co.uk.

Early Day Motion 2606

Primary sponsor: Keith Vaz
Sponsors: Bob Russell

That this House is deeply concerned by recent research which suggests that frequently using the internet or videogames can have a physical effect on the brain, similar to that of drugs or alcohol; notes that both neuronal connections between brain areas and brain functions including emotions, decision-making and self-control are affected; calls for further research to be conducted into these serious findings; and further calls for the NHS to provide effective support to those who suffer from internet or gaming addictions.