Annex 70
Letter to the Parliamentary Commissioner
for Standards from Mr John W Thomas
Thank you for your letter which I received this
morning and our further telephone conversation which I found very
helpful.
I will answer your questions in the order that
they appear on your letter.
(1) I have never lived at 146 Uppingham
Road Leicester. As far as I am aware the only person to actually
live there was Mustafa Kamal in a period pre 1991. Keith Vaz MP
kindly offered the ground floor front room to the CLP as an office
to conduct the day to day business of the CLP which was gratefully
accepted. I as the Constituency Secretary manned that office each
weekday morning from 9.30am to 1pm between 1994 to 1996. During
this period my wife suffered a major stroke, she is now wheelchair
bound, and eventually I had to move the CLP office to the small
bedroom at my home as the above letter head indicates.
(2) Neither I or the CLP has ever paid rent
to Keith Vaz MP, the offer of the ground floor front room was
made by Mr Vaz in the interest of the good organisation of the
Leicester East Constituency Labour Party, and was completely free
of charge. Many other Labour MPs do the same thing.
(3) I know of no other tenants or occupants
of 146 Uppingham Road apart from Mr Kamal whose address I understand
you already have and Mr Vaz after his marriage to his wife Maria.
Mr Vaz is the owner of both 144 and 146 Uppingham
Road: one is his office and the other is where he lives. Neither
property is owned by the Labour Party. If you need any further
information regarding these properties you will need to address
your enquiries to him.
I hope that I have covered all the questions
that your letter asks and that I have answered them fully. If
further clarification is needed please call me on the above number.
As you have requested, please find enclosed
the letter from M Kamal to yourself which I received through the
post.
I wish you a speedy conclusion to your enquiry's
which I await with interest.
25 May 2000
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