Mark Menzies: Sir Keir Starmer says police ‘should be involved’ in allegations suspended Tory MP misused campaign funds
Sir Keir Starmer said police should be involved in the case of suspended Tory MP Mark Menzies, who faces allegations he misused campaign funds.
The backbench MP for Flyde in Lancashire has lost the Conservative whip after The Times published claims 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.
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Mr Menzies disputes the allegations, and the Conservative Party has said it is looking into the claims and takes them seriously.
The Labour leader told reporters during a visit to Teesside: “There are obviously a lot of unanswered questions in relation to these allegations. Not least why it seems the Conservative Party took so long to act and whether they’ve reported this to the police, who it seems to me should be involved in this.”
He said there is a “degree of frustration” that two weeks away from the local elections “yet again we’re talking about misbehaviour by Tory MPs”.
Mark Menzies, Pic: UK Parliament
“If ever you needed evidence of why we need to turn the page on this … and have a fresh start with Labour, I think it’s in these allegations coming out today,” he said.
Sir Keir’s comments come after shadow leader of the house Lucy Powell said the “extraordinary” report raised “very serious questions” and warranted a police investigation.
Speaking in the Commons, she also questioned the handling of the claims by the Conservatives, saying there was “a worrying pattern here of cover-up and inaction” in reference to reports the party had been aware of the allegations for more than three months.
Sky News understands there had been an investigation ongoing by Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) but further information came to light yesterday and Simon Hart, the Tory party chief whip, acted immediately.
Referring to recent revelations regarding a “honeytrap” scandal in Westminster, Ms Powell added: “It seems that yet again, like with the Member for Hazel Grove (William Wragg) and so many other recent cases of sleaze and scandal, they’re too weak to act decisively and instead choose to brush things under the carpet.”
Mr Wragg gave up the whip last week after 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”.
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt declined to comment on the specific cases, but said the issues raised by Ms Powell were “very serious matters”.
Earlier, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps denied suggestions there was a problem within the Tory party, telling Sky News: “There are MPs from other parties that have experienced similar problems or misdemeanours and it is right that there are processes in place.”
What has been alleged in The Times?
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Grant Shapps grilled on his colleagues’ behaviour
Mr Menzies, who has served as an MP since May 2010, is reported to have phoned his 78-year-old former campaign manager at 3.15am last December, saying he was locked in a flat by “bad people” 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, the newspaper says.
A source close to Mr Menzies told the paper he 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 allegedly used money from the campaign fund to cover medical expenses totalling £14,000. None of it was repaid, according to The Times.
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In a statement to the paper, 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.”
A spokeswoman for Chief Whip Simon Hart said Mr Menzies had “agreed to relinquish the Conservative whip, pending the outcome of an investigation”, meaning he will now sit as an Independent MP.
A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: “We are aware of reports in the media relating to a serving Member of Parliament. No complaint has been made to the police at this stage.
“We will make contact with those impacted in due course to see whether they wish to make a complaint.”
Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced she has split from her husband, Peter Murrell.
Ms Sturgeon and Ms Murrell met via the SNP and first became a couple in 2003. They later married in July 2010 at Oran Mor in Glasgow.
Ms Sturgeon with Mr Murrell following their wedding service at Oran Mor in Glasgow in 2010. Pic PA
Mr Murrell giving Ms Sturgeon a kiss after she was voted in as first minister in 2014. Pic: PA
In a statement posted to Instagram stories, she wrote: “With a heavy heart I am confirming that Peter and I have decided to end our marriage.
“To all intents and purposes we have been separated for some time now and feel it is time to bring others up to speed with where we are.
“It goes without saying that we still care deeply for each other, and always will.
“We will be making no further comment.”
Ms Sturgeon announcing the split on Instagram
Ms Sturgeon unexpectedly announced she was stepping down as Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader in February 2023 after succeeding Alex Salmond following the independence referendum in 2014.
Mr Murrell, who had been SNP chief executive since 2001, resigned from his post the following month after taking responsibility for misleading the media over party membership numbers amid the leadership race, which Humza Yousaf went on to win.
At the time, he said: “While there was no intent to mislead, I accept that this has been the outcome.”
In April 2023, Mr Murrell was arrested as part of a probe into the SNP’s funding and finances. He was later charged with embezzling SNP funds in April last year.
Ms Sturgeon and ex-party treasurer MSP Colin Beattie have also been arrested and released without charge as part of Police Scotland’s long-running Operation Branchform.
The probe, which has been ongoing since July 2021, is linked to the spending of around £600,000 raised by SNP supporters to be earmarked for Scottish independence campaigning.
Ms Sturgeon continues to deny any wrongdoing. In an interview last month, the Glasgow Southside MSP said she knew “nothing more” about the inquiry and was getting on with life “as best I can at the moment”.
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Tulip Siddiq has sought to distance herself from her aunt, deposed Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina, claiming they never spoke about politics.
But Sky News can reveal that in a blog written by the now City minister she boasted about how close they were politically and published photos of them together.
In posts written in late 2008 and early 2009, when she was a Labour activist, Ms Siddiq described campaigning with her aunt in Bangladesh’s general election and celebrating her victory.
Our disclosure coincides with a new report in The Times which reveals how the embattled MP’s Labour Party flyers were found in the palace in Dhaka that belonged to her aunt, who was ousted in a coup last year.
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Labour’s Tulip Siddiq risks losing job
The blog is headed: “Tulip Siddiq, member of the Labour Party action team in Bloomsbury and King’s Cross”, and in a post on January 11, 2009, Ms Siddiq told supporters: “I was really busy in Bangladesh as you probably gathered…
“I’ve put up photos of Sheikh Hasina’s post-election press conference at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka.
“The most significant element of this press conference for me was Sheikh Hasina’s insistence that all the political parties in Bangladesh need to work together for the welfare of the country.
“It is no secret that past governments have not worked with the other political parties and we need to change this trend.
“The prime minister emphasised that the Awami League does not support the ‘politics of vengeance’ which is encouraging so let’s hope that a new political culture is created this year.”
She added: “Here’s an action shot of me with the prime minister at the press conference. I’m not sure what I was saying but it probably wasn’t that interesting!”
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‘Tulip Siddiq will lose job if she broke rules’
In a post on January 21, 2009, she wrote: “I was fortunate enough to travel with Sheikh Hasina in her car during election day.
“The prime minister-elect (Prime Ministerial candidate at the time!) drove to several constituencies in Dhaka and stopped quickly at each one to meet the parliamentary candidate or speak to the voters.”
Describing traveling in her aunt’s car, she wrote: “You can see all my photos from election day here… I apologise for the poor quality of some of the pictures. I was taking photos from inside her car which is actually quite difficult!”
“You’ll also see a photo of Dhaka Central Jail. I took that photo because Sheikh Hasina told me that this jail was practically her second home for most of her childhood as her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was under arrest for many years.
“She told me that she visited him with the rest of her family every weekend, so it was a very familiar landmark.”
Earlier, on December 29, 2008, under the heading “Victory!”, Ms Siddiq wrote: “The Awami League have won the elections by a landslide! Sheikh Hasina is the prime minister-elect! I am ecstatic!
“I’ve been on the campaign trail with Sheikh Hasina all day so I don’t really have the energy to write much more but I will do so tomorrow.
“However, I can’t resist uploading a couple of photos. This is Sheikh Hasina’s face just before she heard the results from an unwinnable constituency.
“Here she is after she heard that the Awami League hard work had paid off in that seat.”
The Times reports that political literature of Ms Siddiq, Sir Keir Starmer’s anti-corruption minister, was found at the heavily guarded palace in Dhaka, covered by dust and debris.
At the top of a staircase were items produced by Ms Sidddiq. One was a thank you note to local Labour Party members following her election as MP for Hampstead and Kilburn.
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Another was her annual report for 2022, inviting readers to learn about her help for those affected by the cost-of-living crisis.
The new disclosures will pile further pressure on Ms Siddiq and lead to further calls on the prime minister to sack her.
Many Labour MPs believe her ministerial career is now hanging by a thread.
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On Sky News earlier, cabinet minister Peter Kyle told Trevor Phillips Ms Siddiq was right to submit herself to an ethics investigation over corruption allegations and strongly hinted she would be sacked if found to have broken the ministerial code.
Asked whether she should stand down until she is cleared of impropriety, Mr Kyle said: “I think she’s done exactly the right thing. She’s referred herself that the inquiry needs to go through. I think that that’s the appropriate way forward.
“I’m giving it all the space it needs to do. I’ll be listening for the outcome as the Prime Minister will be.
“There was a process underway and we know full well it will be a functional process, and the outcomes of it will be stuck to by the prime minister and this government, a complete contrast to what we’ve had in the past.”
Sky News has approached Ms Siddiq and the Labour Party for comment.
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