MP Mark Menzies loses Tory whip as party investigates claims he misused funds

A Tory MP has had the whip suspended over claims he misused marketing campaign funds within the newest sleaze scandal to rock Rishi Sunak’s party.

Mark Menzies is alleged to have used 1000’s of kilos given by donors to fund medical bills and to have made a late-night name to a 78-year-old aide asking for assist as a result of he had been locked up by “bad people” demanding cash for his launch.

The Fylde MP disputes the allegations reported by The Times, however the Conservative Party has launched an investigation into the claims.

Tory HQ has identified concerning the allegations for greater than three months and solely launched the investigation following the bombshell report. The determination raised questions on double requirements after senior Tories spent weeks attacking Labour deputy chief Angela Rayner over the sale of her former council home in 2015.

A Labour supply stated: “It is absolutely incredible that Ric Holden and James Daly have been pressuring the police over Angela while sitting on this Mark Menzies case in CCHQ for three and a half months without thinking to report it.”

The suspension additionally raises the prospect of one other tough by-election for the Conservatives in Mr Menzies’s Fylde seat, the place his majority is 16,000, smaller than majorities overturned to date by Labour this parliament.

A spokesman for Tory chief whip Simon Hart stated Mr Menzies had “agreed to relinquish the Conservative whip, pending the outcome of an investigation”, that means he will now sit as an unbiased MP.

According to the The Times, £14,000 given by donors to be used on Tory marketing campaign actions was transferred to Mr Menzies’ private financial institution accounts and used for personal medical bills.

The MP, who’s one in all Rishi Sunak’s commerce envoys, can also be stated to have known as his 78-year-old former marketing campaign supervisor at 3.15am in the future in December, claiming he was locked in a flat and wanted £5,000 as a matter of “life and death”.

The sum, which rose to £6,500, was ultimately paid by his workplace supervisor from her private checking account and subsequently reimbursed from funds raised from donors in an account named Fylde Westminster Group, it’s alleged.

According to a supply near Mr Menzies, the MP had met a person on a web-based courting web site and gone to the person’s flat, earlier than subsequently going with one other man to a second deal with the place he continued ingesting. He was sick at one level and several other folks on the deal with demanded £5,000, claiming it was for cleansing up and different bills.

The supply stated Mr Menzies determined to pay them as a result of he was fearful of what would occur in any other case, however didn’t have the funds to switch the cash from his personal financial savings.

There are different events the place Mr Menzies is claimed to have used cash from the marketing campaign fund to cowl his private bills.

In 2020 he allegedly sought £3,000 to cowl medical payments, however he didn’t repay the cash and as a substitute requested for and acquired an extra £4,000, The Times reported.

The newspaper stated a supply near the MP disputed this account and that the previous marketing campaign supervisor had been the one who prompt Mr Menzies use funds from the enterprise account to pay his private medical bills, however she is known to disclaim this.

An extra £7,000 was acquired by Mr Menzies from the account in November, it’s alleged.

In an announcement to The Times, Mr Menzies stated: “I strongly dispute the allegations put to me. I have fully complied with all the rules for declarations. As there is an investigation ongoing I will not be commenting further.”

A Conservative Party spokesman stated: “The Conservative Party is investigating allegations made concerning a Member of Parliament. This course of is rightfully confidential.

When our nationwide safety faces threats on many fronts, it’s deeply regarding that some MPs are so open to traps, threats and manipulations

Liberal Democrat Daisy Cooper

“The party takes all allegations significantly and can at all times examine any issues put to them.”

Defence secretary Grant Shapps tried to deflect questions on Mr Menzies’s suspension when requested on Thursday morning, urging Sky News to as a substitute ask him about “the situation in Iran”.

A tetchy Mr Shapps stated he was “not privy” to the small print of the allegations in opposition to Mr Menzies and stated he thought he was on TV to speak about “the two wars in the world”.

He confirmed an investigation is underway, however accused the presenter of “pursuing a line of questioning about something which I didn’t come on to talk about because there were two wars in the world going on”.

Liberal Democrat deputy chief Daisy Cooper stated it was “frankly appalling” that the Conservative Party had been conscious of the allegations for greater than three months.

“When our national security faces threats on many fronts, it is deeply concerning that some MPs are so open to traps, threats and manipulations,” she stated.

A decade in the past Mr Menzies stop as a ministerial aide following allegations about his behaviour made by a Brazilian male escort.