Disgraced former Tory MP Tim Yeo is suing the Sunday Times for libel over three articles from 2013. Readers will remember the paper alleged that when Yeo was chairman of the Energy & Climate Change Select Committee, he offered two undercover journalists to act as an advocate on behalf of their fictitious solar energy company. For a £7,000 daily fee.

Mr Yeo’s counsel Desmond Browne QC says the Sunday Times acted “with a singular lack of responsibility both at the journalistic and the editorial level“:

“Mr Yeo was the unfortunate victim of that irresponsibility. He says that in his last years of service as an MP, his reputation was trashed. At no stage during the lunch when he spoke about ways in which he might be able to assist the journalists, did Tim Yeo understand that what he was being asked to do was act as a paid advocate in breach of the rules.”

During his time as a member of parliament Yeo lobbied for an end to unnecessary air travel as he flew around the world on golfing jollies, used House of Commons banqueting facilities to wine and dine a group of environmental investors, while at the same time raising money for AFC Energy, a company of which he was chairman, and at one point was earning over £100,000-a-year from his green investments as he lobbied the government to stop green cuts. Nuff said m’lud…