Labour’s Louise Haigh, the Shadow Transport Secretary, accused Shapps of “washing his hands of any responsibility” when he could intervene to help avert the strikes.
> She told MPs: “He has still not lifted a finger to resolve it. Not one meeting, no talks, no discussions, only media interviews and a petition to the Labour Party.”
> “This is a grave dereliction of duty. And should these strikes go ahead tomorrow, they will represent a catastrophic failure of leadership,” she declared . . .
> She said not only had Shapps been “boycotting” the talks but he had “tied the hands of those at the table” by failing to give train operating companies a mandate to negotiate, an allegation Shapps denied.
> Shapps’s use of the names Michael Green, [Corinne Stockheath](https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=%22Corinne+Stockheath%22) and Sebastian Fox attracted controversy in 2012. He denied having used a pseudonym after entering parliament and, in 2014, threatened legal action against a constituent who had stated on Facebook that he had. In February 2015 he told LBC Radio presenter Shelagh Fogarty, “Let me get this absolutely clear… I don’t have a second job and have never had a second job while being an MP. End of story.”
> However, in March 2015, Shapps admitted to having had a second job while being an MP, and practising business under a pseudonym. In his admission, he stated that he had “over-firmly denied” having a second job. Under the name Michael Green, Shapps had offered customers a “get-rich-quick scheme” costing $497, and promised customers a “toolkit” that would earn them $20,000 in 20 days, provided they followed its instructions.
Isn’t it a private sector dispute?
He’s been on TV, threatening their jobs all week. What more do they want?
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Labour’s Louise Haigh, the Shadow Transport Secretary, accused Shapps of “washing his hands of any responsibility” when he could intervene to help avert the strikes.
> She told MPs: “He has still not lifted a finger to resolve it. Not one meeting, no talks, no discussions, only media interviews and a petition to the Labour Party.”
> “This is a grave dereliction of duty. And should these strikes go ahead tomorrow, they will represent a catastrophic failure of leadership,” she declared . . .
> She said not only had Shapps been “boycotting” the talks but he had “tied the hands of those at the table” by failing to give train operating companies a mandate to negotiate, an allegation Shapps denied.
In other news, RMT’s [Mike Lynch said](https://twitter.com/SaulStaniforth/status/1538435072658907136) on Sophy Ridge’s slot on Sky:
> this nonsense that we didn’t attend negotiations yesterday, which Grant Shapps has just said, on your programme, is an entire fabrication.
> [He’s making it up, what he’s saying is untrue.](https://twitter.com/SaulStaniforth/status/1538435072658907136)
Shapps is famously a [known liar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Shapps#Business_ventures) who denied operating a get-rich-quick scheme on the web under a false name:
> Shapps’s use of the names Michael Green, [Corinne Stockheath](https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=%22Corinne+Stockheath%22) and Sebastian Fox attracted controversy in 2012. He denied having used a pseudonym after entering parliament and, in 2014, threatened legal action against a constituent who had stated on Facebook that he had. In February 2015 he told LBC Radio presenter Shelagh Fogarty, “Let me get this absolutely clear… I don’t have a second job and have never had a second job while being an MP. End of story.”
> However, in March 2015, Shapps admitted to having had a second job while being an MP, and practising business under a pseudonym. In his admission, he stated that he had “over-firmly denied” having a second job. Under the name Michael Green, Shapps had offered customers a “get-rich-quick scheme” costing $497, and promised customers a “toolkit” that would earn them $20,000 in 20 days, provided they followed its instructions.
Isn’t it a private sector dispute?
He’s been on TV, threatening their jobs all week. What more do they want?