MP accused of 'paying off bad people' resigns

Tory cleared of misusing funds but criticised over behaviour

- Michael Knowles

MARK Menzies has quit the Conservative Party and will leave Parliament at the next election after allegations of misusing party funds.

The MP had been accused of using political donations to reimburse a colleague for paying off "bad people" who had allegedly locked him in a flat and demanded money for his release.

An internal Conservative Party investigation into the claims, which Mr Menzies strongly denied, concluded yesterday, finding there had been no misuse of Party funds because the funds used did not come from a Party account.

But it found there had been "a pattern of behaviour that falls below the standards expected of MPs".