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Blair rejects fresh charges against Vaz

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has rejected new sleaze accusations facing junior Foreign Office Minister Keith Vaz and has described them as a "load of rehashed allegations".

Less than two days before voters cast their ballots in the country's general election, the issue of whether Aden-born Vaz has breached a parliamentary and ministerial code of conduct has returned to haunt the prime minister.

The issue is not expected to affect the ruling Labour Party's expected landslide victory, but opposition Conservative and Liberal Democrat parliamentarians insist nevertheless that Vaz should be dismissed for failing to disclose the number of properties he owns.

At an election news conference on Tuesday, Blair said, "I find it quite extraordinary, just two days out of a general election, you return to this subject. I have no comment to make about it as I have no idea about these allegations. I find it extraordinary."

This is the second time in 24 hours that the prime minister has been asked about Vaz. Last Monday night, a television interviewer asked what would happen to Vaz in a new Labour government. Blair responded by describing his Goan colleague as a minister who had done a very good job and added that the allegations against him had not been proven.

But fresh demands for Vaz's resignation have followed a BBC investigation which shows that Vaz only declared his ownership of three properties to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

The British MPs' code of conduct says members should declare any land or property other than the home used for personal residential purposes. A similar and slightly stricter code applies to government ministers.

Yet, according to the BBC investigation, Vaz only declared three out of four properties he owns. It has been further alleged that the MP for Leicester East transferred the ownership of a fifth house to his mother eight days after the request for details was made.

Vaz, who was ordered to rest last month on doctors orders, has repeatedly told the media he gave details of all his properties to the House of Commons registrar of members' interests last January and the registrar was happy with what he had done.

But Shadow Foreign Secretary and Conservative MP Francis Maude said in a press statement, "This now goes straight to Tony Blair's door. He has now got to say, today, whether he still endorses Keith Vaz as a Labour candidate in this election."

Liberal Democrat spokesman Norman Baker said, "It is not difficult to count how many homes one has. Clearly, Keith Vaz should have made a full declaration of all his property interests. It is at best an extraordinary coincidence that Keith Vaz made a free transfer of one of his properties to his mother. It is certainly not a technicality in this context. He should certainly be booted out of his ministerial office today and Tony Blair must also withdraw his support for him as a Labour candidate."

The media interest in Vaz was sparked off by his links to the controversial Hinduja brothers. The disclosure last January that G P and S P Hinduja had been granted British nationality in double quick time prompted speculation that they were given special treatment because of their friendship with ministers like the then Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Mandelson, and Vaz.

Although Mandelson was dismissed in the ensuing uproar, Vaz survived. A subsequent inquiry led by Sir Anthony Hammond, QC, subsequently cleared both men of improper conduct over the Hinduja passport affair.

A separate inquiry by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner cleared Vaz of all but one allegation against him. But the commissioner did point out that Vaz's refusal to co-operate had prevented her from reaching conclusions on eight of the allegations.

Vaz's alleged ownership of five properties worth an estimated one million pounds first surfaced in a London newspaper last February. Vaz questioned the accuracy of the newspaper's account at the time, although its findings now appear to be supported by the BBC inquiry.

When the new Parliament convenes Vaz is certain to be asked to justify how he managed to acquire his properties, including the two he did not list with the commissioner. Investigations are also expected to continue into allegations that he was a beneficiary of money paid by the Hindujas to a public relations company that was owned by his wife.

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