LABOUR MP Keith Vaz is facing suspension from the Commons for six months after he was found to have "expressed willingness" to purchase cocaine for others.
Recommending suspension, the Commons Standards Committee said the finding represented a "very serious breach" of the House code of conduct for MPs.
It said that by failing to co-operate fully with the Commons inquiry process, Vaz had shown "disrespect for the House's standards system" and caused "significant damage" to the reputation and integrity of the Commons as a whole.
The complaint against the MP, who quit as chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee in September 2016, followed a newspaper article claiming he had met two men in his London flat to engage in paid-for sex.
READ MORE: Vaz exits top role following sex and drugs allegations
In the course of the encounter – which was covertly audio-recorded by one of the men – Vaz was said to have offered to buy illegal drugs for a third person to use.
The committee said his explanation that the men were there to discuss the redecoration of the flat and that he may have been given a "spiked drink" was "not believable and, indeed, ludicrous".
The inquiry, following a report by the Sunday Mirror, was subject to repeated delays due to two referrals to the Metropolitan Police – who on each occasion decided not to proceed with a criminal investigation – the 2017 General Election and Vaz's ill health.
It took place under two commissioners for parliamentary standards – Kathryn Hudson and her successor Kathryn Stone.
However, the committee said that if the MP had given a "candid and co-operative account" of the incident from the outset, it could have been concluded much earlier.
It said "much of the welter of documentation and procedural challenges which has emanated from Vaz has been designed, in our opinion, to 'throw dust in the eyes' of the commissioner and the committee".
It added that although the core issues facing the inquiry were relatively simple, "Mr Vaz has done his best to complicate, obfuscate and confuse the inquiry through arguments of little merit and documentation of dubious relevance".
A statement posted on Vaz's website said: "Keith Vaz has been treated for a serious mental-health condition for the last three years as a result of the events of 27th August 2016.
"He has shared all the medical reports in confidence with the Committee.
"He has nothing further to say on this matter other than what was said in his oral and written statements to the Committee and to the Commissioner."
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