CARDS STILL BEST
A TORY who quit as a ministerial aide amid claims he paid a Brazilian male prostitute is Theresa May’s new trade envoy for Argentina.
Mark Menzies will aim to boost commercial links between the two countries in the wake of the Prime Minister’s historic trip to Buenos Aires for the G20 summit at the weekend.
The MP for Fylde, Lancs, who left David Cameron’s government four years ago over the allegations, is already trade envoy to Chile, Colombia and Peru.
In a 2014 Sunday Mirror investigation, Rogerio Santos claimed that Mr Menzies paid for his services before he showed him around Parliament.
He also claimed the MP asked him to supply him with illegal methedrone, a class B drug dubbed the poor man’s cocaine, which was banned in 2010.
In emails to the paper Mr Santos wrote: “I have been having sex with a Conservative MP for money. Mark also asked me to buy methedrone. I have personal messages of him talking to me about drugs.”
Mr Menzies then quit as Parliamentary Private a
Secretary with the Department International Development.
In March 2014, Mr Menzies said: “A number of these allegations are not true and I look forward to setting the record straight in due course.” Yesterday International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said: “The Prime Minister has appointed Mark Menzies MP as the Trade Envoy to Argentina. This extends Mark’s current portfolio as envoy to Chile, Colombia and Peru.” Mr Menzies, chair of the crossparty British-Argentine group of MPs, is not paid for his envoy role. He is one of 32 mainly Tory politicians working across 63 emerging markets. Britain exports energy, metals, plastics and pharmaceuticals to Argentina, while we import its grain, wine, animal feed and commodities. Scot Mr Menzies was raised by his mum after his dad, who was in the merchant navy, died a month before he was born. He joined the Conservative Party in 1982.
He was approached comment last night. SEX CLAIMS for for OVER half of Brits aged 18 to 24 polled give Christmas cards rather than send greetings via social media, the Royal Mail found.