LONDON (AA) – A British lawmaker has resigned as chair of an influential parliamentary committee after a tabloid newspaper exposed his alleged involvement in a gay sex party that was possibly drug-fueled.
Keith Vaz was accused of offering to pay for cocaine and using poppers, a chemical popularly used by gay men, during an encounter at his apartment involving two male eastern European escorts.
The Labour Party lawmaker had been chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, which scrutinizes the work of the U.K. police and drug policy, since 2007.
Vaz, who has been married for 23 years and has two children, cited the effects of the revelations on his family as he announced he was stepping down.
“Those who hold others to account, must themselves be accountable,” Vaz said in a statement released on Tuesday afternoon.
It continued: “I told the committee today of my decision to stand aside immediately from committee business, and my intention to resign.
“This is my decision, and mine alone, and my first consideration has been the effect of recent events on my family.”
Vaz is a close associate of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, although his role as committee chair meant he was not part of Corbyn’s leadership team.
He has been prominent in the media since he became Britain’s first Asian lawmaker in half a century after being elected to represent Leicester East in 1987.
He notably joined thousands of Muslims calling for British novelist Salman Rushdie’s controversial book The Satanic Verses to be banned, triggering a debate about freedom of speech in the U.K.
During his committee chairmanship Vaz frequently criticized the British government’s immigration policy and summoned celebrities to give evidence on issues ranging from refugees to privacy.