Vaz defends visa approvals

Mr Vaz has faced a barrage of allegations recently

Europe Minister Keith Vaz has defended his decision to approve 49 visa applications against the advice of immigration officers.

The interventions - over the 17 months he has been in the job - have been called "astonishing" by the Conservatives who have demanded an inquiry.

But in a Commons written reply, the Foreign Office minister said the decisions followed representations from MPs.

He insists they were not as a result of requests from other people.

Figure 'minute'

The Foreign Office has previously argued that almost two million visas are applied for every year, and fewer than 150,000 are rejected.

The figure of 49 is described as being "minute".

Mr Vaz is currently the subject of a second inquiry by Elizabeth Filkin, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, into his links with the Hinduja brothers after a separate complaint lodged by the Tories.

The under fire minister has said he will co-operate with Ms Filkin.

She criticised him for failing to answer questions in her earlier inquiry, though he insists he was cleared of all serious charges against him.