Tory MP loses whip after claims he used party funds to pay ‘bad people’

A Conservative MP has lost the party whip over allegations he misused campaign funds and demanded thousands of pounds from an aide to pay off “bad people” in the middle of the night.

It comes only weeks after William Wragg, another MP who has now lost the Tory whip, claimed he handed over colleagues’ personal numbers to someone who had compromising material on him.

According to the Times, Menzies phoned his former campaign manager, now a party volunteer, at 3.15am one night in December saying he was locked in a flat by “some bad people” and needed £5,000 as a matter of “life and death”.

The source close to Menzies told the Times he paid the money because he was afraid of what would happen if he refused, but had insufficient funds in his own savings.

According to the paper, £14,000 in funds given by Conservative party donors for campaign activities was transferred to Menzies’ personal bank accounts and used for private medical expenses over the years.

The Liberal Democrats deputy leader, Daisy Cooper, said it was “frankly appalling” that the Conservative party had been aware of the allegations for more than three months.