Mark Menzies: Tories investigate MP after 'bad people' cash claims
Fylde MP will sit as an independent while party looks into allegations he misused campaign funds on medical expenses and blackmail pay-out

Rebecca Messina, The Week UK
The Conservative Party has withdrawn the whip from MP Mark Menzies while it investigates claims he misused donations from supporters.
He is said to have called his 78-year-old former campaign manager, who has not been named, at 3am one night in December saying he had been locked in a flat by "bad people" and asking for £5,000 from a bank account that contained supporter donations.
When she was unable to transfer the money due to the late hour, he "became angry, allegedly telling her it was 'a matter of life and death'", said The Times . Menzies's constituency office manager, Shirley Green, is said to have "stumped up" an eventual sum of £6,500 a few hours later and was repaid from the campaign fund.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Menzies "strongly" disputes the claims, said the BBC.
The MP for Fylde in Lancashire also used £14,000 from donations to pay for private medical expenses, claimed The Times. A source close to Menzies "argued that paying the medical bills helped to keep Menzies functioning as an MP and were a legitimate use of the funds", said the paper.
However, one donor said he had been "told by Menzies that the money would be used for campaigning" and called for a police investigation.
The claims against Menzies were reported to the party in January, "but the wheels of party justice have turned slowly", said The Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said it was "frankly appalling" that the Conservatives had been aware of the allegations for more than three months.
The Conservative Party has confirmed that it is investigating the allegations, while Menzies is "continuing with plans to stand at the next election", The Times said.
Menzies becomes the 18th MP currently sitting in Parliament as an independent, following a "series of scandals and disciplinary problems", said The Independent.
Arion McNicoll is a freelance writer at The Week Digital and was previously the UK website’s editor. He has also held senior editorial roles at CNN, The Times and The Sunday Times. Along with his writing work, he co-hosts “Today in History with The Retrospectors”, Rethink Audio’s flagship daily podcast, and is a regular panellist (and occasional stand-in host) on “The Week Unwrapped”. He is also a judge for The Publisher Podcast Awards.
-
Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly Tuttle
Feature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!
Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitions
Feature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
-
Trump soaks up adoration in his made-for-TV Cabinet meetings
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The president's televised sessions have become a platform for his top lieutenants to demonstrate executive flattery
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official says
Speed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportation
Speed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
-
Trump arms National Guard in DC, threatens other cities
speed read His next targets are Chicago, New York and Baltimore
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day