Questions over Tory law firm used by Grant Shapps to silence constituent in second job row

Grant Shapps used a law firm retained by the Conservatives to force a critical constituent to say that he had not pursued his business interests after becoming an MP

Grant Shapps used a law firm retained by the Conservatives to force a critical constituent to say that he had not pursued his business interests after becoming an MP.

The Conservative party chairman hired Hill Dickinson to pressure one of his constituents to take down critical comments from the internet last November.

Hill Dickinson was the same firm that the Tories used three months earlier in August 2014 to accuse ‘Conservative Grassroots’, an activist organisation, of giving the "false impression" that it was “affiliated to” the Conservatives.

Brian Binley, a senior Tory MP who sits on the party’s ruling board, said that he would raise the issue at its next meeting in a fortnight’s time.

He told The Telegraph: "I am sure that the party chairman will adequately deal withthis matter before the next party board but I would imagine there might be some questions aslked to ensure that everything is clear in the future."

The constituent had published on the internet critical comments about the Tory party chairman for using the pseudonym “Michael Green” for his marketing business.

Lawyers from Hill Dickinson, which has offices in London, Liverpool and Manchester and said it was acting for Mr Shapps, then wrote to the constituent, wrote to him in November asking him to take down the post.

They asked that the constituent make clear Mr Shapps “had used a pen name merely to separate business and politics, prior to entering Parliament”.

Mr Shapps has consistently denied holding a second job while he was an MP. Last month he told a radio phone-in: “I have never had a second job whilst being an MP. End of story.”

However, according to recording obtained by The Guardian newspaper from 2006 - a year after he was elected he was promoting business self-help guide Stinking Rich 3 and claiming his products could make listeners a “ton of cash by Christmas”.

The Tories declined to say whether party funds were used by Mr Shapps to pay Hill Dickinson to send the legal letter to the constituent. A spokesman said: “We never comment on legal arrangements.” A source added that the questions were “irrelevant” because the bills were “not paid for by the public purse”.

Mr Shapps later told the BBC that he had "screwed up" on dates and stated his case "over-firmly" in the LBC interview

A Conservative party spokesman said: "Like many authors and journalists, Grant wrote with a pen name. This was completely transparent: his full name and biographical details were permanently published on the company's main website.

"Given that this was a decade ago, and was mentioned during the cut and thrust of an interview, he referenced that his writing career had ended when he became an MP, in fact it ended shortly afterwards."

Labour called for David Cameron, the Prime Minister, to call an inquiry to the establish the facts and Mr Shapps to resign to help bring back “integrity into politics”.

Jon Ashworth, Labour's shadow Cabinet Office minister, said: "Grant Shapps threatened a constituent with legal action based on a falsehood. The Tory Chairman needs to explain why he hid behind lawyers to hide the truth.

"David Cameron is weakly backing Grant Shapps but both men seem complicit in a cover-up over Grant Shapps' murky business affairs.It looks as if the Ministerial Code has been broken and there must now be a full inquiry in to whether this is the case."​

Mr Cameron expressed his “full confidence” in Mr Shapps, who is a minister bound by the ministerial code.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister thinks that Grant has done the right thing in acknowledging the mistake he has made."

He added: “The right thing, where a mistake has been made, is to explain that, and that is what Grant has done.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/11475611/Questions-over-Tory-law-firm-used-by-Grant-Shapps-to-silence-constituent-in-second-job-row.html

Corrupt, lying, thieving bastards!