A phone call in the middle of the night to a 78-year-old woman. The words: “I’ve got in with some bad people and they’ve got me locked in a flat and they want £5,000 to release me.”
It sounds like an unbelievable plot of some dodgy drama.
But according to The Times newspaper, Mark Menzies, 52, Conservative MP for Fylde in Lancashire, was the caller.
When his former campaign manager didn’t help, he persuaded his office manager to cash in an ISA to get him the money. She was later repaid from campaign funds, the paper reports. He’d been allegedly blackmailed by men he’d met on a dating website.
Katherine Forster believes that not only are some of Sunak's MPs not helping, they’re actually making things even worse
PA/Houses of Parliament
There’s more, much more, including alleged sex for money with a 19-year-old Brazilian rentboy 10 years ago, and a drunk dog.
The Conservative party learnt of these latest allegations three months ago, but did not withdraw the whip from Menzies till the story broke yesterday.
It’s quite extraordinary. And depressingly familiar. Just 18 months ago Rishi Sunak began as PM, promising to lead a government with “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level”.
Coming after the implosion of Liz Truss, plus Partygate, tractor porn (Neil Parish) and ‘pincher by name, pincher by nature’ Chris Pincher (to name just three) under Boris Johnson, this was welcomed.
So much for good intentions. Sunak himself is a family man who works hard and doesn’t drink.
But in some ways it doesn’t matter. The Prime Minister has changed again, and again. But the party hasn’t.
It’s had 14 years in power and it shows. The last years of John Major’s Conservative government were mired in sleaze and scandal, before being swept away by the Labour landslide of 1997. It feels like history is repeating itself.
Rishi Sunak has been forced to sack or remove the whip from a whole host of MPs.
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Katherine Forster says Sunak himself is a family man who works hard and doesn’t drink
PA
It’s only been a fortnight since the Tories’ last sex scandal. William Wragg MP was caught in a honeytrap. He gave over personal phone numbers to someone he met on a dating app, saying they “had compromising things on me. They wouldn't leave me alone".
Former minister Crispin Blunt is currently under police investigation for allegations of rape.
And Peter Bone lost the whip (and later his seat) following claims of bullying and sexual misconduct.
David Warburton stood down from his seat in Somerton and Frome while being investigated over alleged sexual misconduct.
The police dropped its investigation into Julian Knight over alleged sexual assault. He was cleared, but further allegations were made and he remains suspended.
And besides the sexual bad behaviour, Scott Benton’s Blackpool South seat is up for grabs on May 4, following his suspension for breaching rules in appearing willing to lobby for money.
I could go on. And on. Dominic Raab lost his job as Deputy Prime Minister over bullying. Matt Hancock lost the whip for appearing on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
And Nadhim Zahawi was sacked as Tory party chair over £5million owed in tax.
Of course, it’s not just Conservative MPs who get themselves into trouble.
The situation north of the border, with the arrest of former SNP’s leader Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell, now charged with embezzlement of party funds, is shocking.
And plenty of Labour MPs have lost the whip too: Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott being just the most prominent.
And of course the questions about Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner’s council house are still swirling.
But the number of Conservative MPs getting mired in scandal, either sexual or financial, does suggest that perhaps they’ve been in power so long that some have lost the sense that rules apply to them.
With the Conservative polling still dire and not a single migrant deported to Rwanda, Sunak needs all the help he can get.
But not only are some of his MPs not helping. They’re actually making things even worse.