After being outed as the businessman who allegedly gagged staff from speaking out about bullying and sexual harassment, Sir Philip Green now faces fresh calls to be stripped of his knighthood. He was named in the House of Lords by the former Labour cabinet minister Lord Hain, despite a court order preventing details from being made public. The collapse of the privacy injunction, that cost Sir Philip approximately £500,000 to secure, will renew controversy about how the law is being used by the wealthy to mask allegations of wrongdoing.
Lord Hain, stating that it was his “duty” to unmask the retail magnate under parliamentary privilege, said Sir Philip had used “non-disclosure agreements and substantial payments to conceal the truth.” Frank Field, the MP who led the parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of BHS, a chain of stores sold by Sir Philip for £1, called for him to join Fred Goodwin and Robert Mugabe in having the honour revoked. He said, “The chargesheet against the knighthood is growing. Parliament and the country have made our views clear on this matter.” Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, Jess Phillips said, “I'm no fan of the gongs system full stop, but to allow Philip Green to call himself Sir literally devalues the entire thing. He is an embarrassment to our country.”
Chairman of Arcadia Group, Sir Philip has long been bombarded with allegations of bullying, even though he maintains denial of any unlawful behaviour. The Court of Appeal this week banned a daily from publishing details of claims made by five people who allegedly entered into “settlement agreements” with him. Media sources are barred from revealing any details or disclosing how much Sir Philip paid to the complainants.
Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Vince Cable and former business secretary said, “He narrowly and luckily escaped losing his knighthood over the pensions scandal. If these allegations are correct, he should certainly be stripped of his knighthood.”
Meanwhile, Sir Philip has stated, “I am not commenting on anything that has happened in court or was said in parliament today. To the extent that it is suggested that I have been guilty of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour, I categorically and wholly deny these allegations.
“Arcadia and I take accusations and grievances from employees very seriously and in the event that one is raised, it is thoroughly investigated. Arcadia employs more than 20,000 people and in common with many large businesses sometimes receives formal complaints from employees. In some cases these are settled with the agreement of all parties and their legal advisers. These settlements are confidential so I cannot comment further on them.”
