Rishi Sunak is facing a fresh headache after a Conservative MP was suspended over allegations he misused campaign funds.
The Times newspaper report into Mark Menzies is the latest sleaze row to rock the Tories since the prime minister entered Downing Street with a promise to bring “integrity and accountability” to government.
Having sought to draw a line under the scandal-hit era of Boris Johnson, problems have continued to mount for Mr Sunak.
Sky News looks at the MPs who have been suspended during his time in office so far.
Mark Menzies
Fylde MP Mr Menzies lost the Conservative whip and was suspended as one of Rishi Sunak’s trade envoys after The Times published claims that he had used political donations to cover medical expenses and pay off “bad people” who had locked him in a flat and demanded thousands of pounds for his release.
Mr Menzies, who will now sit as an independent MP, disputes the allegations but “agreed to relinquish the Conservative whip, pending the outcome of an investigation”, Chief Whip Simon Hart said.
Image: Mark Menzies. Pic: AP
Mr Sunak is facing questions over how the claims were handled, with reports suggesting that the party had been aware of the allegations for more than three months.
Sky News understands there had been an ongoing investigation by Conservative Campaign Headquarters into Mr Menzies, but further information came to light following the newspaper’s report and Mr Hart acted immediately.
William Wragg
William Wragg, the MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester, also gave up the whipafter he admitted to The Times he had given his colleagues’ phone numbers to someone he met on a dating app.
The senior backbencher apologised and said the person “had compromising things on me. They wouldn’t leave me alone”.
Image: William Wragg. Pic: PA/UK Parliament
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Wragg praised for dignity
Scotland Yard later said it is investigating reports of the so-called “honeytrap” scam after it was suggested at least 12 men in political circles received unsolicited messages, raising security concerns.
Mr Wragg’s decision to voluntarily give up the whip led to criticism from within Conservative ranks, with a senior Tory source telling Sky News: “Rishi is so weak Wragg decided he’d have to fire himself instead.”
Lee Anderson
Image: Lee Anderson has since defected to Reform UK. Pic: Reuters
Former deputy party chairman Lee Anderson had the whip suspended over “Islamophobic” comments he made about Sadiq Khan.
The MP for Ashfield, who has since defected to the Reform party, said he believed “Islamists” had “got control” ofthe Mayor of London, saying: “He’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.”
A day later Mr Khan accused the prime minister of being “complicit” in racism for failing to condemn Mr Anderson‘s comments that “pour fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred”.
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Lee Anderson says Reform Party will be ‘a major force’
Mr Anderson was ultimately suspended, with the chief whip Mr Hart saying this was due to his “failure to apologise”.
Mr Anderson said at the time that he “fully” accepts the party had to suspend him – adding that he “will continue to support the government’s efforts to call out extremism in all its forms – be that antisemitism or Islamophobia”.
A subsequent parliamentary investigation found he had committed a “very serious breach” of the rules and recommended he be suspended from the Commons for 35 days, a punishment backed by MPs.
Image: Former Tory MP Scott Benton. Pic: PA
Mr Benton resigned before that could happen, triggering a by-election in his Blackpool South constituency which will coincide with next month’s local elections.
He had denied wrongdoing and appealed the suspension but the ruling was upheld. Had he not resigned, he would have faced being removed from his seat via a re-call petition which would have triggered a by-election if 10% of eligible voters in the area backed it.
Bob Stewart
Bob Stewart, who represents Beckenham in southeast London, surrendered the party whipafter he was found guilty of a racially-aggravated public order offence.
Mr Stewart was convicted after telling Bahraini refugee Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei to “go back to Bahrain” during the incident in December 2022.
In overturning the decision, Mr Justice Bennathan said that while the words amounted to abuse, it was not believed that they caused Mr Alwadaei harassment, alarm or distress.
Crispin Blunt
Former minister Crispin Blunt had the whip suspended pending the outcome of the police investigation into allegations of rape and possession of controlled substances, which he denies.
Image: Crispin Blunt identified himself as an MP who was arrested last October
The Reigate MP announced his arrest in October, calling it “unnecessary” but saying he was ready to co-operate and “I am confident will end without charge”.
Mr Blunt has said he does not intend to contest the next election. In January he was re-bailed until April.
Peter Bone
Image: Peter Bone was removed in a recall petition
Disgraced ex-Tory MP Peter Bone lost his seat after being removed by constituents in a recall petition. The move came after he was suspended as an MP over bullying and sexual misconduct claims, which he denies.
Mr Bone’s partner was chosen to run as his replacement in the subsequent Wellingborough by-election. Labour managed to achieve a swing of 28.5% – the largest swing of this parliament at the time.
Chris Pincher
Image: The Chris Pincher allegations led to the downfall of Boris Johnson
Former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher quit parliament in disgrace after losing his appeal against a suspension from the Commons following groping allegations made in June 2022.
David Warburton stood down from his seat in Somerton and Frome last summer while being investigated for claims of sexual misconduct. Mr Warburton, who was suspended over the allegations 14 months earlier, denied making unwanted advances but did admit to drug use.
Image: David Warburton, the former MP for Somerton and Frome
In his resignation letter he said he had been denied a fair hearing by the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) and prevented from “speaking out” while it investigated the accusations.
An independent panel later found the investigation into claims he sexually harassed someone was “materially flawed“, but said it had made “no findings on the substance of the complaint against the respondent, or the allegation that the complaint was fabricated”.
Julian Knight
Image: Julian Knight. Pic: PA
Juian Knight was suspended as a Conservative after a serious sexual assault allegation was made against him.
Mr Bridgen was kicked out of the Conservative Party last year after comparing COVID vaccines to the Holocaust.
Image: Andrew Bridgen was expelled over COVID vaccine comments
The North West Leicestershire MP claimed a “consultant cardiologist” told him COVID jabs were “causing serious harms”, adding that the vaccine programme was “the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust”.
He stood by his comments following his expulsion, saying he would use his “newfound freedom” as an independent MP “to fight for justice for all those harmed, injured and bereaved due to governmental incompetence”.
Matt Hancock
Image: Former health secretary Matt Hancock
Matt Hancock resigned as health secretary in disgrace during the pandemic when he was caught having an affair with his aide and now girlfriend, Gina Coladangelo, in breach of his own social distancing rules.
But it was his appearance on reality TV show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! that caused him to lose the whip.
Mr Hancock was heavily criticised by MPs, including Mr Sunak, who said MPs should spend their time “serving constituents”.
Sir Keir Starmer could decide to lift the two-child benefit cap in the autumn budget, amid further pressure from Nigel Farage to appeal to traditional Labour voters.
The Reform leader will use a speech this week to commit his party to scrapping the two-child cap, as well as reinstating winter fuel payments in full.
There are now mounting suggestions an easing of the controversial benefit restriction may be unveiled when the chancellor delivers the budget later this year.
According to The Observer, Sir Keir told cabinet ministers he wanted to axe the measure – and asked the Treasury to look for ways to fund the move.
The Financial Times reported it may be done by restoring the benefit to all pensioners, with the cash needed being clawed back from the wealthy through the tax system.
The payment was taken from more than 10 million pensioners this winter after it became means-tested, and its unpopularity was a big factor in Labour’s battering at recent elections.
Before Wednesday’s PMQs, the prime minister and chancellor had insisted there would be no U-turn.
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Will winter fuel U-turn happen?
Many Labour MPs have called for the government to do more to help the poorest in society, amid mounting concern over the impact of wider benefit reforms.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown this week told Sky News the two-child cap was “pretty discriminatory” and could be scrapped by raising money through a tax on the gambling industry.
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Brown questioned over winter fuel U-turn
Mr Farage, who believes Reform UK can win the next election, will this week accuse Sir Keir of being “out of touch with working people”.
In a speech first reported by The Sunday Telegraph, he is expected to say: “It’s going to be these very same working people that will vote Reform at the next election and kick Labour out of government.”
South Western Railway (SWR) has been renationalised this weekend as part of the government’s transition towards Great British Railways.
The train operator officially came under public ownership at around 2am on Sunday – and the first journey, the 5.36am from Woking, was partly a rail replacement bus service due to engineering works.
So what difference will renationalisation make to passengers and will journeys be cheaper?
Image: Pic: PA
What is nationalisation?
Nationalisation means the government taking control of industries or companies, taking them from private to public ownership.
Britain’s railway lines are currently run by train operating companies as franchises under fixed-term contracts, but Labour have said they want to take control of the lines when those fixed terms end.
In its manifesto, the party vowed to return rail journeys to public ownership within five years by establishing Great British Railways (GBR) to run both the network tracks and trains.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said renationalising SWR was “a watershed moment in our work to return the railways to the service of passengers”.
“But I know that most users of the railway don’t spend much time thinking about who runs the trains – they just want them to work,” she added. “That’s why operators will have to meet rigorous performance standards and earn the right to be called Great British Railways.”
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How reliable are UK trains?
How will ticket prices be affected?
Labour have argued cutting off payments flowing into the private sector could save the taxpayer £150m a year.
But the government has not explicitly promised the savings made from nationalisation will be used to subsidise fees.
It is unlikely rail fares will fall as a result of nationalisation, rail analyst William Barter told Sky News.
“The government could mandate fare cuts if it wanted to, but there’s no sign it wants to,” he said.
“At the moment, I’m sure they would want to keep the money rather than give it back to passengers. The current operator aims to maximise revenue, and there’s no reason the government would want them to do anything differently under government control.”
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UK has most expensive train tickets in Europe
What difference will it make for passengers?
Britain’s railways are frequently plagued by delays, cuts to services and timetable issues, but Mr Barter said nationalisation will make very little day-to-day difference to passengers.
There was “no reason to think” the move would improve issues around delays and cancellation of services, he said.
“It’s going to be the same people, the same management,” he explained.
“The facts of what the operator has to deal with in terms of revenue, infrastructure, reliability, all the rest of it – they haven’t changed.”
Image: Pic: PA
Which services are being next to be nationalised?
In the longer term, the move is likely to bring “a degree of certainty compared with relatively short-term franchises”, Mr Barter said, noting the government would only want to renationalise a franchise “because in one way or another something very bad is going on in that franchise, so in a way it can only get better”.
It also means the government will have greater accountability for fixing problems with punctuality and cancellations.
Mr Barter said: “If this is the government’s baby, then they’re going to do their best to make sure it doesn’t fail. So rather than having a franchise holder they can use as a political scapegoat, it’s theirs now.”
He added: “In the short term, I don’t think you’d expect to see any sort of change. Long term, you’ll see stability and integration bringing about gradual benefits. There’s not a silver bullet of that sort here.”
Next to be renationalised later this year will be c2c and Greater Anglia, while seven more companies will transfer over when their franchises end in the future.
Sir Alan Bates has accused the government of presiding over a “quasi kangaroo court” for Post Office compensation.
Writing in The Sunday Times, the campaigner, who led a years-long effort for justice for sub-postmasters, revealed he had been given a “take it or leave it” offer that was less than half of his original claim.
“The sub-postmaster compensation schemes have been turned into quasi-kangaroo courts in which the Department for Business and Trade sits in judgement of the claims and alters the goal posts as and when it chooses,” he said.
“Claims are, and have been, knocked back on the basis that legally you would not be able to make them, or that the parameters of the scheme do not extend to certain items.”
More than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as if money was missing from their accounts.
Many are still waiting for compensation despite the previous government saying those who had their convictions quashed were eligible for £600,000 payouts.
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‘It still gives me nightmares’
After the Post Office terminated his contract over a false shortfall in 2003, Sir Alan began seeking out other sub-postmasters and eventually took the Post Office to court.
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A group litigation order (GLO) scheme was set up to achieve redress for 555 claimants who took the Post Office to the High Court between 2017 and 2019.
Sir Alan, who was portrayed by actor Toby Jones in ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, has called for an independent body to be created to deliver compensation.
He added that promises the compensation schemes would be “non-legalistic” had turned out to be “worthless”.
It is understood around 80% of postmasters in Sir Alan’s group have accepted a full and final redress, or been paid most of their offer.
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‘Lives were destroyed’
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson told Sky News: “We pay tribute to all the postmasters who’ve suffered from this scandal, including Sir Alan for his tireless campaign for justice, and we have quadrupled the total amount paid to postmasters since entering government.
“We recognise there will be an absence of evidence given the length of time which has passed, and we therefore aim to give the benefit of the doubt to postmasters as far as possible.
“Anyone unhappy with their offer can have their case reviewed by a panel of experts, which is independent of the government.”