Law firm sent letters to Dean Archer demanding he pay ‘compensation in lieu of damages’ over Facebook post, on behalf of Tory chairman when he was MP

Grant Shapps sought “compensation in lieu of damages” from one of his constituents and demanded that he post an apology over claims about the Conservative chairman’s use of the name Michael Green while an MP.

Letters sent last October and November by lawyers acting for the then MP for Welwyn Hatfield to Dean Archer, a chauffeur and former Labour councillor, reveal aggressive demands to retract what was described as a “defamatory allegation” made in a posting on Facebook.

The October letter, which was sent on Shapps’s behalf by the international City firm Hill Dickinson, then asked for Archer’s “proposals for compensating our client in lieu of damages and (an) undertaking to indemnify our client in full for his legal costs”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Grant Shapps Letter - 1d Photograph: Guardian/Ragout

Archer had noted on Facebook that Shapps had called fellow MP Mark Reckless “a liar” for defecting to Ukip and then went on to question how honest Shapps had been when he had previously appeared as online marketer “Mr Green”.



Details of the letter came a day after the Guardian published an audio recording of Shapps appearing under the name of Michael Green, promoting his online marketing schemes while he was an MP. Since 2012 the Tory chairman had repeatedly denied that he had used the Green pen name while in the House of Commons.

Labour demands investigation into Grant Shapps' second job Read more

However, after the story broke, Shapps said on Monday that he had “over firmly” denied that he worked as Green, while he was in Westminster.

The October letter also says that the damage caused by Archer’s “libellous” posting may not have ended. It quotes former Lord Justice Bingham, who once said, “Defamatory statements are objectionable not least because of their propensity to percolate through underground channels and contaminate hidden springs” – and warns that the law firm will “monitor the spread of any allegation”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Grant Shapps Letter - 1c Photograph: Guardian/Ragout

Speaking to the Guardian, Archer said: “At first I laughed it off but then my wife got worried. He was threatening us. We stood to lose our house.

“It mentioned [Lord Justice] Bingham and was a three-page letter. Shapps was a powerful person who was threatening me, my wife, my family. We couldn’t fight it. We live in a terraced house”.



At first the Archers’ suggested potential wording for the apology – but Shapps rejected that and his lawyers wrote back in November insisting that an apology would have to be posted on Facebook “making it clear that he used a pen name merely to separate business and politics, prior to entering parliament”.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Grant Shapps Letter - 2b Photograph: Guardian/Ragout

Archer said it was worrying that Shapps appeared to think he could do anything. “Once elected (MPs) think they can do whatever they want. When you start threatening people in your own constituency. I mean an MP has a lot more clout than you and me. ”



When the story broke, Shapps tried to dismiss the Guardian’s reporting, tweeting: “Old story: all properly declared at the time and all many years ago. Labour just hate business.” However when the story was widely shared on social media, Shapps admitted he “screwed up” the dates when he denied ever holding a second job as an MP.

This prompted Labour’s election chief to write to the prime minister demanding an investigation into the Conservative party chairman. Lucy Powell, the Labour MP, said that there was “irrefutable evidence” that Shapps was posing as a businessman called Michael Green while he was an MP and she called for an inquiry into whether he had broken the ministerial code.

A Tory party spokesman said that this has all been “exhaustively reported before”. He added “The party chairman’s business interests were properly and openly declared at the time on the register of members interests.

“Like many authors and journalists, he wrote with a pen name. This was completely transparent: his full name and biographical details were permanently published on the company’s main website.”

The prime minister’s spokesman said David Cameron had full confidence in Shapps and believed he had done the right thing in acknowledging his mistake. The spokesman said the Conservative chairman had apologised for his mistake, and that was “the right thing to do” .



However, Archer said that he would now be seeking compensation for the stress caused by Shapps. “Shapps forced me to write something that was false. MPs are powerful people and Shapps has not liked me because I campaigned against his plans to abolish the local council here and let Welwyn Garden City take us over. That’s how I got involved in Labour council politics.”