Keith Vaz thread

[beemoh]

Realised this individual doesn't have a thread, and since he's one of the more quietly persistant ones, he probably needs keeping an eye on more than the Thompsons and the Yees.

Anyway, yesterday, he got a Written Answer to a question he asked in Parliament:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) violent attacks and (b) murders that were judged to be linked in some way to violent video games occurred in the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement. (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2007-11-14a.164211.h&m=1674#g164211.q0)

[BlackIce, British Commie]

And Keith's just been owned by the Home Office..

He is more of a problem though. A Labour MP is much more dangerous than a Conservative at the moment.

[beemoh]

Two things:

To ask (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2007-11-19a.164209.h&m=1674#g164209.q0) the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations his Department received about the link between violent video games and the actions of their users in each of the last five years.

This seems mostly harmless, there's no reason why somebody shouldn't check this if they're concerned about the issue.

(Of course, the fact that it's Vaz doing the asking breaks this, but no big deal.)

To ask (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2007-11-19a.164210.h&m=1674#g164210.q0) the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what factors are taken into account before a video game is released for sale.

This is more concerning- this looks like a much more focussed attempt to add an extra step to the classficiation process.

[beemoh]

Above post has been reported on the front page.

Incidentally, it seems that last Monday, there was a request to remove KV from the Justice Comittee.

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2007-11-12a.502.4

[Grahamr]

Keith Vaz is an infidel. I recccomend us gamers launch a holy war against him.

[beemoh]

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2008-02-06a.178684.h&m=1674

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) people and (b) under 18-year-olds have participated in the Bryan Review of the effects of video games to date; what percentage of the population this represents; how many people he expects to participate in the Review in total; when he expects the Review to be published; and what plans for further research on the effects of violent video games on (i) adults and (ii) children his Department has.

Response:

Dr. Byron is expected to complete her independent review looking at risks to children from exposure to potentially harmful or inappropriate material on the internet and in video games in March 2008.

Dr. Byron has engaged a wide range of stakeholders, largely through the involvement of around 150 umbrella organisations. Some of these groups have undertaken their own consultations or commissioned quantitative research.

In addition, Dr. Byron held two public calls for evidence, one specifically aimed at children and young people under 18, for which received around 350 responses. We expect the review to publish a list of contributors, including details of focus group research carried out with children and parents and discussions with children's boards.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has no current plans to conduct further research in this area, although we may reconsider this when we see the findings of the review, if it is deemed appropriate.

[beemoh]

Other news:

Vaz says "violent crime down"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7227179.stm

Despite the MP for Hackney saying she didn't feel safe walking around at night, three MPs- including our Keith- had a wander around that very same area at night (surrounded, to be fair, by journalists and cameras) and concluded that it was a safe area.

[beemoh]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1031113/Brown-caught-emerges-senior-Labour-MP-promised-reward-supporting-crunch-terror-vote.html

Gordon Brown faced embarrassment today as it emerged a Labour MP was told he would be 'appropriately rewarded' for his support for the Government's controversial anti-terror measures.

The Prime Minister was accused of 'grubby deal-making' after Chief Whip Geoff Hoon's remark to Keith Vaz was disclosed.

It came in a letter to Mr Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, a day after the Government won a crunch Commons vote on 42-day pre-charge detention for terror suspects.

Mr Vaz, who originally opposed the measure only to back it when Mr Brown was facing defeat in the Commons last month, has previously denied being promised a knighthood.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1031308/COMMENTARY-Egotistical-ambitious-sleazy---The-perfect-candidate-peerage.html

COMMENTARY: 'Egotistical, ambitious, sleazy ... The perfect candidate for a peerage'

Self-regard is not a quality generally in short supply in the world of Westminster politicians.

Yet Keith Vaz's ego has the capacity to take even many of his Labour colleagues by surprise.

The full article takes up about a page and a half in today's paper. Ouch.

[beemoh]

Two page spread again in today's Mail- seems Vaz is fraternising with more unsavoury characters.

If anyone's wondering, we get it in at work. Honest.

Race war at Scotland Yard: Dizaei and the crooked lawyer

Disturbing links can be revealed today between race row lawyer Shahrokh Mireskandari and one of Scotland Yard's most controversial officers.

The Daily Mail can show that Commander Ali Dizaei has been secretly advising the lawyer on how to undermine a prosecution case being brought by his employers, the Metropolitan Police.

Nothing particularly interesting, until:

The revelation that Dizaei tried to undermine a case will lead to calls for him to be investigated over his links to the lawyer. We can also reveal today that Keith Vaz, a former Labour minister and now chairman of the home affairs select committee, is a personal friend of the conman.

Mr Vaz has been an enthusiastic supporter of the lawyer's attempts to force an investigation into alleged racism by the solicitors' watchdog.

Last year Mr Vaz wrote to the SRA complaining on behalf of Mireskandari about the watchdog's alleged 'prejudicial and discriminatory conduct' against his firm.

Last night Mr Vaz refused to comment.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1054823/Race-war-Scotland-Yard-Dizaei-crooked-lawyer.html

It gets worse, as it seems that Mr. Vaz is more than casual acquaintances with the pair of them:

A month before, the brother and sister-in-law of the defendant [in a case Dizaei was allegedly tampering, who also happened to be at his wedding] were invited free of charge to an otherwise £1,000-a head Labour Party fundraiser at Wembley Stadium.

The host at their table? The Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP, chairman of the House of Commons home affairs select committee, the most influential backbencher in the field of law and order. The defendant, or her relatives, would meet Vaz, they say, on at least four occasions.

The policeman, the politician and the lawyer are very close. Indeed Dizaei and Vaz are such frequent visitors to the offices of Mireskandari's firm Dean and Dean or guests at his Wembley and O2 Arena executive boxes that that one lawyer described the trio as 'the Three Musketeers'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1054804/The-crooked-lawyer-good-friend-police-chief-told-tear-case-apart.html

Okay, the bigger story here is over racism, and we all know how The Daily Mail feels about non-whi.. erm, I mean "Political Correctness", so there's probably some bonus vitirol involved but this is still some major stuff and could seriously undermine Vaz as a politician.

[EpicVandal]

what i don't get over all is the fact that people feel like its the governments job to parent children... why not make attempts to get parents more involved instead of creating more and more laws and rules for video game companies and instead focus that effort towards the parents and their ability to properly raise a child.

[KN]

hey guys, this is what the dreaded socialism is really like