The Labour MP Keith Vaz has been accused of bullying one of his clerks in parliament who sought to uphold the rules of the House of Commons. The MP for Leicester East is alleged to have told one woman she was poor at her job because “she was not a mother” after she questioned his conduct during taxpayer-funded trips abroad.

Vaz has denied the allegations, which will be broadcast on BBC2’s Newsnight at 10pm on Wednesday night.



Jenny McCullough, the former clerk to the home affairs select committee, which Vaz chaired, claimed she was bullied after attempting to control the MP’s behaviour on a trip to Russia and Ukraine. He stood down from the committee in 2016 following a newspaper sting which claimed that he had hired prostitutes and offered to buy cocaine. An investigation into those allegations is ongoing.

McCullough claims that in 2008, after an “opulent” unscheduled dinner with mysterious Ukrainian politicians, she raised concerns over who was paying for the event and was subjected to a “tirade” from Vaz in a hotel lobby in Kiev.

She said: “He told me that I wasn’t capable of serving the committee because I wasn’t a mother. All I knew was, it wasn’t normal to be harangued about my fertility status in the reception of a hotel room, at public expense, in front of my colleague on the team.”

A representative for Vaz told Newsnight the hospitality did not need to be declared and that no rule was broken.

McCullough alleged that Vaz subsequently subjected her to continued personal criticism and made jokes about whether she posed a security threat because of her Northern Irish background and accent.

The rules for overseas trips by MPs demand that they arrange an itinerary before leaving that can be signed off and that hospitality is either arranged by the committee as part of the programme or appropriately declared.

Vaz is also facing questions over claims by Newsnight that he invited staff from an Indian restaurant in London that he frequented on a trip to Bangladesh. Newsnight says clerks only discovered that the men were joining the trip when they boarded the plane.

Vaz’s representatives said he could not recall whether any British Asian restaurateurs joined the trip, but said it would not be surprising because the committee’s remit included the issue of facilitating entry into the UK for individuals in the catering industry.

McCullough said she was afraid to complain while she was employed by the House because Vaz “had a lot of influence” and “it could only end badly for me”.

Vaz’s representative said: “No complaint or allegation of this nature has ever been brought to his attention. Our client had considered that he and Ms McCullough had previously had a good working relationship, and had always considered her to be very effective as a clerk.”

His spokesman said: “[Mr Vaz] did not berate Ms McCullough at any stage, whether before, during or after the Russia trip, nor did he at any time insult her maternal status. Furthermore, our client finds the allegation that he would make insulting jokes about anyone on the basis of race extremely offensive [and] would never trivialise a person’s ethnic background.”

The House of Commons said: “We are aware that in the past the House has not had a robust process in place to deal with instances of bullying and harassment. We are confident that our new independent complaints and grievance policy will mean that allegations can be dealt with effectively and sensitively.”