Tory activist 'appalled' by party's response to Mark Menzies claims

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The Conservative activist who has accused a Tory MP of making a late-night demand for money has said she is appalled by the party's response.

Katie Fieldhouse has said Mark Menzies called her one night in December at 3.15am asking for £5,000 to pay "bad people" who had detained him in a flat and were not letting him leave.

She said the party had failed to act after she reported the incident in early January, with Menzies only resigning the whip after it was revealed by the Times this week.

Fieldhouse told the BBC: "[Menzies] said: 'I've got in with some bad people and they've got me locked in a flat and they won't let me out until I pay them £5,000.' I said: 'I beg your pardon.' He said: 'It's life or death Katie, I need £5,000 from the account.'"

She said she felt let down by the party, which had failed to take any action over her allegations for months after she reported them to Simon Hart, the chief whip.

"I put my faith completely in the party … nothing happened - I heard nothing … I am appalled," she said. "The party has been part of my life, I've run every election campaign here for 40 years. I work myself into the ground for the party - all they hear is a 78-year-old little old lady."

Fieldhouse said she did not give Menzies the money he requested and another activist used their personal savings to do so. The Times reported that this second activist was then reimbursed from party funds raised by donations.

The paper also reported that Menzies, the MP for Fylde in Lancashire, had used £14,000 of political donations to pay for his own medical expenses.

Menzies said on Thursday: "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."

He resigned the Tory whip on Thursday after a conversation with Hart, and was suspended as a government trade envoy to Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina.

Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, defended the party's actions on Friday. He said: "This is being fully investigated, I have absolute confidence that it will be fully investigated … We will get to the bottom of what may or may not have occurred."

Lancashire police are planning to contact Menzies and others involved in the allegations, though the force said on Tuesday it had not received a complaint about his actions.

Menzies is one of eight Tory MPs elected in 2019 who are now sitting as independents having lost the whip. Others have stood down as MPs, including Peter Bone, who was found to have harassed a staff member, and Scott Benton, who was caught offering to lobby ministers in return for money.

Fieldhouse called on Menzies to stand down as an MP at the next election. "If he falls on his sword … go away and start afresh - that's what I would like to happen," she said.