article_snippet: But with the help of a £2,000 government grant and friends – including Jeffrey Archer, Michael Heseltine and other MPs who between the help of a £2,000 government grant and friends – including Jeffrey Archer, Michael Heseltine and other MPs who between them raised £75,000 on his behalf – raised £75,000 on his behalf –
article_snippet: his turned from politics to hosiery, opening a shop, Proctor’s, in Richmond selling shirts, gaudy waistcoats, silk ties, and natty cuff links.
article_snippet: Infamously, his hung a sign in the shop window saying: ‘Shirt lifters will not be prosecuted.
article_snippet: Initially business seemed to be flourishing – John Major, when his became Prime Minister, ditched his Marks & Spencer shirts in favour of Proctor’s more elegant wares – and his opened a second shop in Knightsbridge.
article_snippet: One day in 1992, two men walked into a second shop.
article_snippet: One of two men demanded:
article_snippet: After a £2,000 government grant a £2,000 government grant set up a chain of shops under a £2,000 government grant name selling shirts, ties and cuff links .
article_snippet: Proctor’s friend Neil Hamilton, then a government minister and in a second shop at the time, came to Proctor’s aide and received a broken nose for Proctor’s aide pains.
article_snippet: From then on, a chain of shops went into decline.