Current Politics in the United Kingdom

[Devius]

Tory MP Menzies under investigation by party over claims about misuse of funds

A Tory MP is being investigated by the party following claims he misused campaign funds.

Mark Menzies also faced allegations he made a late-night call to a 78-year-old aide asking for help because he had been locked up by “bad people” demanding thousands of pounds for his release.

The Fylde MP disputes the allegations reported by The Times but the Conservative Party is looking into the claims and taking them seriously.

According to the newspaper, £14,000 given by donors for use on Tory campaign activities was transferred to Mr Menzies’ personal bank accounts and used for private medical expenses.

The MP, who is one of Rishi Sunak’s trade envoys, is also said to have called his 78-year-old former campaign manager at 3.15am one morning in December, claiming he was locked in a flat and needed £5,000 as a matter of “life and death”.

The sum, which rose to £6,500, was eventually paid by his office manager from her personal bank account and subsequently reimbursed from funds raised from donors in an account named Fylde Westminster Group, it is alleged

According to a source close to Mr Menzies, the MP had met a man on an online dating website and gone to the man’s flat, before subsequently going with another man to a second address where he continued drinking. He was sick at one point and several people at the address demanded £5,000, claiming it was for cleaning up and other expenses.

The source said Mr Menzies decided to pay them because he was scared of what would happen otherwise, but did not have the funds to transfer the money from his own savings.

There are other occasions where Mr Menzies is said to have used money from the campaign fund to cover his personal expenses.

In 2020 he allegedly sought £3,000 to cover medical bills, but he did not repay the money and instead asked for and received a further £4,000, The Times reported.

The newspaper said a source close to the MP disputed this account and said the former campaign manager had been the one who suggested Mr Menzies use funds from the business account to pay his personal medical expenses, but she is understood to deny this.

A further £7,000 was received by Mr Menzies from the account in November, it is alleged.

In a statement to The Times, Mr Menzies said: “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 said: “The Conservative Party is investigating allegations made regarding a Member of Parliament. This process is rightfully confidential.

“The party takes all allegations seriously and will always investigate any matters put to them.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said it was “frankly appalling” that the Conservative Party had been aware of the allegations for more 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 said.

“Rishi Sunak must suspend the whip for Mark Menzies immediately, while all the relevant authorities investigate the matter.”

A decade ago Mr Menzies quit as a ministerial aide following allegations about his behaviour made by a Brazilian male escort.

Source:

https://www.enfieldindependent.co.uk/news/national/24260960.tory-mp-menzies-investigation-party-claims-misuse-funds/

[Devius]

[CARLTON BROWN]

Originally Posted by Devius

UK inflation falls to 3.2% in March

Breaking news:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68833077

The problem is that no ordinary people seem aware of this massive drop in inflation!

[Devius]

Originally Posted by Devius

Tory MP Menzies under investigation by party over claims about misuse of funds

Source:

https://www.enfieldindependent.co.uk/news/national/24260960.tory-mp-menzies-investigation-party-claims-misuse-funds/

Related...

Tory MP suspended over alleged misuse of campaign funds

A Conservative MP has been suspended by the party following claims he misused campaign funds.

Mark Menzies allegedly asked his former campaign manager for money to pay "bad people" who he said had detained him overnight in a flat, the Times reports.

He has lost the party's whip while an investigation is carried out.

Mr Menzies, who represents the Fylde constituency in Lancashire, told the Times he "strongly disputed" the allegations.

According to the newspaper, Mr Menzies phoned his former campaign manager, now a party volunteer, at 03:15 last December saying he was locked in a flat and needed £5,000 as a matter of "life and death".

The sum was reportedly paid later that morning, by which time it had risen to £6,500, from the personal savings of Mr Menzies' office manager, who was reimbursed from campaign donations, the paper said.

A source close to Mr Menzies told the Times he paid the money because he was scared of what would happen if he refused, but didn't have enough in his own savings.

Mr Menzies offered to repay the funds but claimed local Tories who controlled the account the money came from said he didn't need to, a source told the paper.

The Times also reports Mr Menzies phoned his former campaign manager four years ago seeking £3,000 from campaign funds to cover medical bills and promising to repay the money later.

A source close to Mr Menzies disputed the claim that it had been the MP's suggestion to use campaign funds to pay his medical bills, the paper reported.

The MP is understood to have later received a further £4,000 and then, in November of last year, another £7,000, the paper said.

None of the money allegedly transferred to Mr Menzies to cover medical expenses - £14,000 in total - was repaid, according to the Times.

The paper says the Conservative Party was made aware of the allegations in January, when the former campaign manager reported what had happened to the chief whip, Simon Hart.

BBC News has contacted Mr Menzies for comment and he is yet to respond.

In a statement to the Times, Mr Menzies said: "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 said: "The Conservative Party is investigating allegations made regarding a member of parliament. This process is rightfully confidential."

A spokesperson for Mr Hart told the BBC: "Following a call with the chief whip, Mark Menzies has agreed to relinquish the Conservative whip, pending the outcome of an investigation."

Losing the whip means an MP is effectively expelled from their parliamentary party and must sit as an independent unless the whip is restored.

Source:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68841840

[foxbat1]

Drug shortages, now normal in UK, made worse by Brexit, report warns

Drug shortages are a “new normal” in the UK and are being exacerbated by Brexit, a report by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank has warned. A dramatic recent spike in the number of drugs that are unavailable has created serious problems for doctors, pharmacists, the NHS and patients, it found.

The number of warnings drug companies have issued about impending supply problems for certain products has more than doubled from 648 in 2020 to 1,634 last year.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/...t-report-warns

I don't remember that being on the Vote Leave posters.