Former Labour MP Keith Vaz faces Parliament ban over bullying staff member

Ex-Labour MP Keith Vaz should be ashamed of his behaviour towards a House of Commons staff member, a report on his conduct has said.

The panel says the former Labour minister - who stood down as an MP in 2019 - should be banned for life from the Parliamentary estate.

Mr Vaz has been contacted for reaction.

The former Leicester East MP had already been rebuked by Parliament's standards commissioner for his behaviour towards a clerk when he was chair of the Home Affairs Committee.

It concluded that he should never have his parliamentary pass returned returned to him.

Former MPs are entitled to keep their pass - but Mr Vaz had his taken off him after a separate breach of the Commons code of conduct.

The panel also rejected claims from Mr Vaz's medical adviser that he was too ill to participate in its inquiry, after reviewing "publicly available material demonstrating his ongoing public media and political activity".

The panel's chair, Sir Stephen Irwin, said Mr Vaz's misconduct "represented sustained and unpleasant bullying, with a real and enduring psychological impact; and that it led to the complainant leaving her career in the House of Commons".

He said that if Mr Vaz had currently held a Commons pass "it would have been appropriate to remove it" and his eligibility for one "should never be restored".

Mr Vaz's conduct to the complainant "was hostile, sustained, harmful and unworthy of a Member of Parliament", he added.

"He should be ashamed of his behaviour."