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SHTUM'S THE WORD: MP Keith Vaz refuses to discuss secret police corruption report Operation Tibe
NO COMMENT: MP Keith Vaz 'can't help' when it comes to Operation Tiberius
AN MP who called for an official inquiry after seeing a controversial secret police corruption report is now refusing to discuss it after the probe never took place.
Kieth Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East is one of just two MPs to have viewed the Met Police Operation Tiberius report, the other being Paul Flynn, Labour MP for Newport West.
It was in July 2014 when Mr Vaz was chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee and
TOP SECRET: Just two MPs - Mr Flynn and Mr Vaz have seen the report under strict supervision
Mr Flynn was a committee member.
The 2002 Operation Tiberius report identified eight organised crime networks involved in drug trafficking, extortion and money laundering that were being corruptly aided by 42 named serving and 22 former Metropolitan Police detectives.
TOP ECHELON: Tiberius named officers believed to be helping gangs of criminals like John Palmer
In August 2014, just weeks after viewing the report, under strict Met Police supervision with no cameras allowed, Mr Vaz vowed the committee would investigate police corruption during a new inquiry into organised crime.
He was quoted in the Independent: "The committee will wish to hear more on these issues as it looks into organised crime later in the year.”
However, the inquiry never took place and it is unclear why.
ADAMS FAMILY: Terry Adams is another gangster named in Tiberius
Alleged criminals named in Tiberius included the notorious Adams family from north London and crime gangs said to be run by murdered Brink's Mat gangster John Palmer.
The report was put together after an internal probe found several investigations into organised crime had been compromised.
It revealed that information relating to at least five unsolved gangland murders had been leaked to suspects by corrupt officers - many of whom remained in senior posts for a number of years.
Mr Flynn has previously described Tiberius as the "most shocking" report he has seen as an MP and raised it a number of times in Parliament, calling for a redacted version to be published.
SHOCKING: Paul Flynn MP raises Tiberius in the House
Mr Flynn is due to retire due to ill health, but maintained there should still be a Parliamentary inquiry into police corruption to assess the extent of it across the Met Police and nationally.
Mr Vaz quit as chairman of the committee in 2016, after the Daily Mirror released secretly recorded footage of him apparently paying Romanian rent boys for sex under a false name and offering to pay for cocaine, and faces an ongoing Parliamentary standards probe into his alleged conduct.
Yet, he continues tom have an interest in the justice system, recently asking a question in the house about the Proceeds of Crime Act.
However, Mr Vaz dodged all questions about Tiberius.
He was asked for his general reaction to the report, what he did as committee chairman as a direct result of viewing it, and whether he backed recent calls for the committee to "carry out an inquiry into Met Police and/or general police corruption and links to organised crime, including looking at what happened in the Met post Tiberius?"
CHAIRWOMAN: Mr Vaz suggested asking Yvette Cooper about the lack of inquiry
A spokesman for Mr Vaz said: "I do not think Keith will be any help on this.
"Mr Vaz is unable to help with what was in the files however he suggests you write to Yvette Copper MP who is the new committee chair."
Asked about why the organised crime inquiry Mr Vaz mentioned in 2014 never happened, he added: "There were a number of inquiries that did not get undertaken as the General Election was called."
A retired Met Police detective in post at the time of Tiberius said: "Two MPs see the report, then a month later we are told there is going to be an inquiry by one of them. The inquiry never happens. One of the MPs says Tiberius was shocking and says an inquiry should still take place, but Mr Vaz, the MP who originally called for it won't say anything. What is going on?"