MP in ‘ bad people’ cash storm quits

SCANDAL- hit Mark Menzies quit the tories yesterday and will stand down at the next election following allegations that he misused campaign funds.

The MP for Fylde was embroiled in controversy after claims he used local political donations to pay off ‘bad people’ who had taken him hostage at 3am.

Now he has announced that he will leave Parliament at the next election after an internal party investigation found ‘a pattern of behaviour that falls below the standards expected of MPs’.

Following his statement, the tories said that they would take no action against him because the funding was ‘outside the remit’ of the party.

it means Mr Menzies will sit as an independent in the seat he won in 2010, saving the tories another potential by-election defeat.

Police are reviewing information about the allegations as they consider whether or not to investigate. Mr Menzies denies the claims.

the embarrassing saga came after it was reported the MP had called his 78-year- old former campaign manager at 3am claiming he was locked in a flat and needed £5,000 as a matter of ‘life and death’. it is claimed that the sum, which rose to £6,500, was eventually paid by his office manager, who cashed in her personal iSA and was reimbursed using donor funds.

it was also reported that £14,000 given by donors for tory campaigns was transferred to Mr Menzies’ personal bank accounts and used for private medical expenses.

A tory spokesman said the money in question had been signed off by two signatories of the Fylde Westminster Group which ‘sits outside the remit of the Conservative Party and Fylde Conservative Association’.

Announcing his resignation, Mr Menzies said: ‘this has been a very difficult week for me.’

in the past he has been caught up in allegations including cavorting with a Brazilian rent boy and getting a friend’s dog drunk, which he denies.

‘Behaviour falls below standards’