Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP

Malcolm Richards, editor of The Richmond and Twickenham Times group of newspapers for 27 years until 2003, died on Friday 15th August. Malcolm Richards was the country's longest serving editor. He was a dear friend of Keith Vaz MP, having being his campaign manager in the 1983 General Election when he was the Richmond Labour candidate and a friend ever since. "Malcolm Richards is quite simply irreplaceable. I have had the privilege of knowing this remarkable man for over 25 years when I was firs...
more...

6 August 2008
 

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith MP met with Keith Vaz MP last week to discuss the Home Office’s green paper on policing. The Home Affairs Committee has recently completed its oral evidence into ‘Policing in the 21 Century’ and has made a series of interim comments on these issues in particular on excess of bureaucracy and the public's wish to see more police on the streets. The Committee will also start an inquiry into knife crime in the autumn, another i...
more...

25 July 2008 Keith Vaz (Leicester, East) (Lab): Saving the reds is, of course, a sentiment that I echo. This debate should be renamed the tour of Britain because it gives all Members the opportunity to visit, via virtual reality, the constituencies of other Members. The red squirrels of Cumbria are very important to the right hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (David Maclean), and I am sure that the debate will end with the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Angela Browning) inviting us...
more...

25 July 2008 Keith Vaz (Leicester, East) (Lab): We should pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman himself for his work over many years. Does he agree that whatever happens in Sri Lanka should not prevent the British Tamil community from playing their full part in our democracy and from engaging fully with elected Members of this House? Simon Hughes: Absolutely. A new high commissioner for Sri Lanka has just been appointed—I have not met him yet—and we must send a clear message that people from ...
more...

24 April 2008 Keith Vaz (Leicester, East) (Lab): I have paid tribute to the fact that the Minister has been all over the country meeting communities. What message has he received from them about the points-based system? Mr. Byrne: My right hon. Friend knows that I have the privilege of representing a constituency whose population is about 50 per cent. Pakistani. The messages that I have received in my meetings all over the country are very similar to those that I have received from my constitu...
more...

6 February 2008 I beg to move That leave be given to bring in a Bill to exclude from the operation of the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 certain matters relating to the selection of candidates by political parties. The United Kingdom is a diverse nation. A snapshot of what it means to be British today would surely provide us with a mosaic reflecting the many cultures, ethnicities and religions that make up our population. Post-war ...
more...