Keith Vaz's wife says she will forgive him over male escorts scandal

The wife of Keith Vaz has said she will forgive him over claims he cheated on her with male prostitutes - though she admitted she "would have liked to have taken all my crockery and broken it on his head" following the MP's revelation.

Maria Fernandes said she had decided to give the Labour MP a second chance and will forgive him in the future or else "it is going to tear me up".

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, the lawyer and part-time judge told how the news that her husband of 23 years paid two male prostitutes for sex had "come out of the blue" and was a "complete shock".

Ms Fernandes warned that Mr Vaz needs to change or she will "sling him out".

She said the former chair of the House of Commons Home Affair Committee had begged her for forgiveness and promised it would "never happen again", after he broke the news to her, shortly before the scandal was reported in the press.

The Mail on Sunday also reported that although Mr Vaz had been sleeping in a separate room to his wife following the revelation, he had moved back to sharing a room with her as she was worried about his mental health: "He wanted to kill himself twice - once as Europe minister [when he was caught up in a scandal over passports] - and again now. He just wanted to die."

According to the Sunday Mirror who first reported the allegations, the Leicester East MP had a conversation with one of the male escorts regarding cocaine, saying that although he did not want to use the drug he indicated that he would pay for it for the other man at a later date.

The Metropolitan Police have said they will look into allegations against Keith Vaz, and "assess and identify what criminal offences - if any - may have been committed".

Ms Fernandes also said that the couple would undergo marriage guidance sessions and Mr Vaz would have a full health check, after allegations he had unprotected sex.

Elaborating on her reasons why she had decided to forgive her husband of 23 years Ms Fernandes said: "Although I'm a lapsed Christian, there is still a Christian part of me that talks about forgiveness because you let go if you forgive. So from that point of view, yes, I've made the decision but how it will be done ... that's all to happen in the future."