Annex 187
E-mail to the Parliamentary Commissioner
for Standards from Mr M H Asmal
Thank you for your letter dated 7 September
2000 regarding the allegations against Mr Keith Vaz MP.
In the short time I knew Mr Vaz, I had been
told by members of the business community that he did accept payments
especially when it came to his election expenses and that his
mother would approach business people for these payments. But
I have never seen him take any payments in my presence. However,
I have seen his mother ask a person to pay off Mr Vaz's telephone
bill, but I can not remember who this person was, as it was six
or seven years ago.
Regarding the tape recording, I have no knowledge
of any tape recording regarding Mr Vaz and Mrs Vaz. However, when
Dispatches a TV documentary programme were looking at irregularities
in the Labour Party, they too asked me the same question and I
told them that if I had made any tape recording, would I have
released it with my voice on it?
5 October 2000
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