An MP for the right-wing Liberal VVD resigned on Friday after a party committee said facts about his behaviour did not meet the party’s ‘integrity standards’.

Mark Verheijen is at the centre of allegations that he wrongly declared thousands of euros of private and campaign expenses while a Limburg provincial councillor. In addition, a local businessman has made formal allegations of corruption against the MP.

Verheijen said he is resigning with ‘pain in his heart’ but that the committee’s verdict leaves him with no other choice.

The MP said it is impossible to do his job if his integrity is open to debate. It is not good ‘for my party or for politics in general’, he said in a statement.