As my elected MP Grant Shapps is supposed to fight my corner – instead he threatened to sue me

Last year Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP, the Chairman of the Conservative Party, threatened to sue me, a constituent of his, for libelling him on Facebook about his alter-ego as an internet marketing millionaire called Michael Green. He initially demanded damages and, eventually, to post a retraction which read:

“I recently made a post suggesting that Grant Shapps MP had lied over the use of a pen name. I now accept that such an assertion was entirely false and that Mr Shapps MP has at no time misled over the use of a pen name. Indeed, I now understand that he openly published his full name alongside business publications making it clear that he used a pen name merely to separate business and politics, prior to his entering Parliament. Since I was not in full possession of the facts I was clearly wrong to make that post. I wish to apologise unreservedly to Mr Shapps MP for any time or embarrassment caused.”

However, investigative journalists from The Guardian and other newspapers discovered a tape of him appearing as Michael Green while he was an MP, and archives of his business websites in which they claim he did not make it clear that he was using a pen name.

I have started a petition as it is clear that Mr Shapps needs a bit of encouragement to come clean. He has had many opportunities since last year to come out with the truth but instead he has tried to cover his own back. This latest round of media coverage started when he went on LBC in February this year and three times denied having a second job while being an MP.

Mr Shapps’ actions have been wrong on so many levels. As my elected MP, Mr Shapps is supposed to fight my corner and represent my concerns. Instead, he has gone to extreme lengths to protect his own reputation whilst threatening legal action. After receiving the initial letter from Shapps’ lawyers, my family was in a state of shock. We had no idea how we would pay the damages he was demanding. It is a terrible feeling to think your family could lose everything and I hated the thought that I was responsible for putting my wife and kids in that position. Mr Shapps has a family of his own so surely he should be able to imagine the distress a potential law suit would cause us.

Furthermore, Mr Shapps’ actions towards me do not only sully his reputation. They leave another stain on our politics. I think honesty matters in life generally and especially in politics. Why should it be one rule for us and another for them? That’s why I think it is time Mr Shapps comes clean about Michael Green. I hope the British public will see this and support me through my petition, which you can find at www.grantshapps.co.uk or https://www.change.org/p/grant-shapps-mp-come-clean-about-michael-green