MPs approve amendment to strip Philip Green of knighthood

Members of parliament approved a call to have former BHS boss Philip Green’s knighthood removed after a debate on his suitability for the honour.

The motion is however not binding as final decisions will have to be taken by the Honours Forfeiture Committee.

Green is scheduled to meet with the pensions regulator this week to try to secure a deal over the collapse of BHS’ pension fund.

The firm shortly went bankrupt after Green sold BHS to former racing driver Dominic Chappell last year. The wake of the collapse led to the loss of 11,000 jobs and a £571m pension deficit.

The MPs have launched a cross-party attack on the retail mogul, with Labour MP David Winnick branding Green “a billionaire spiv who should never have received a knighthood” and “has shamed British capitalism”.

He was shocked that he was knighted in the first place given is tax avoidance tactic of registering his business in his wife’s name, who is a resident of Monaco.

Chairman of work and pensions committee Frank Field said that one of the main findings of his committee’s report was that "literally nothing happened in BHS or Arcadia without Sir Philip knowing directly" and drew a comparison between Green and Napoleon.

Another MP, Dennis Skinner, said Green was more like Robert Maxwell because he has “robbed” his workers of their pensions. A report by MPs published in July found Green had extracted large sums and left the business on “life support”.

Field said Green made no attempt to offer a “modest part of his fortune” to resolve the issue affecting 22,000 employees.

"We are dealing with a man who has huge sums in wealth. He could have dealt with the pensions problem and walked away smelling of roses," he said.

The Labour MP said Green was not the “King of the High Street” but a “successful asset stripper”.

"Were the actions of Sir Philip honourable? That is pertinent, because he received his honour for services to retail," he added.

He is pressing for the pension regulator to take legal action against Green to settle the deficit.

Prime Minister Theresa May appeared to condemn Green herself during her conference speech saying: "a director who takes out massive dividends while knowing that the company pension is about to go bust".

In June Green told MPs that his advisers were working on a “resolvable and sortable” solution but the pensions regulator said they have yet to receive a “comprehensive written proposal”.

Labour MP Iain Wright said: "If he has the mind and the will to do something, it happens quickly. He came before us on the committee on the 15 June and said he'd sort it. We're discussing this on the 20 October. Is that really reflective of somebody who wants to sort this? He does need to get his cheque book out."

In an interview with ITV he said he was in a “very strong dialogue” with the regulator to find a solution but would not specify the level of financial support he would give.