Theresa May refuses to be drawn on the question of chivalry Sir Philip Green



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Theresa May declined to call for Sir Philip Green to be stripped of his knighthood if allegations of sexual harassment, racist abuse and bullying are true.

MPs have asked that the billionaire businessman be stripped of his honor after being appointed to the House of Lords as a businessman at the origin of 39, an injunction against a national newspaper.

A May spokesperson was asked Friday if the Prime Minister would submit Sir Philip's knighthood to a Whitehall committee that makes recommendations on honors.

However, she would only say, "The committee is independent … it constantly reviews evidence on issues like this."

Sir Vince Cable, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, said Sir Philip had "narrowly escaped his loss as a knight of the pension scandal" at BHS, the department store chain that sank into the administration. since 2016.

He added, "If these allegations are correct, he should definitely be stripped of his knighthood."

Others, including independent MP Frank Field and Jess Phillips de Labor, echoed Sir Vince's comments.

Sir Philip, owner of the Arcadia group of big brands such as Topshop, Topman, Burton and Dorothy Perkins, was appointed to parliament as the businessman behind an injunction against the Daily Telegraph on Thursday.

The 66-year-old has "categorically and totally denied" allegations of "illegal sexual or racist behavior".

Retail analysts said that, even if these claims were not proven, they could be "extremely damaging to him and the retail businesses he owns" if they aroused calls to boycott his stores .

Although the pension scandal at BHS is "complex, nuanced and easily overlooked by many consumers," Neil Saunders of GlobalData Retail said the charges could "weigh in people's minds when they decide where make their purchases ".

A Topshop store in Sydney Australia
Picture:
Sir Philip is president of the Arcadia group, which owns brands such as Topshop and Topman.

In a statement, Sir Philip said that he would not comment on what happened in court or Thursday in parliament, adding: "To the extent that it is suggested that I have been guilty unlawful sexual or racist behavior, I categorically denied these allegations entirely.

"Arcadia and I take the accusations and grievances of the employees very seriously and, if warranted, a full investigation is opened.

"Arcadia employs more than 20,000 people and, like many large companies, sometimes receives formal complaints from its employees.

"In some cases, they are settled with the agreement of all parties and their legal advisers.

"These regulations are confidential, so I can not say more."



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Video:
Moment Philip Green was named in the lords

Thursday in the House of Lords, Lord Hain, a Labor Party colleague, used parliamentary privilege to name Sir Philip.

The former minister told his peers: "I have the duty, under parliamentary privilege, to appoint Philip Green as the person in question, since the media were subject to an injunction preventing the publication of complete details of this story which is clearly public. interest."

Lord Hain said the case concerned "a powerful businessman using non-disclosure agreements and substantial payments to conceal the truth about repeated and severe sexual harassment, racist abuse and bullying that continue compulsively. "

The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday that an unidentified senior manager of a group had hired at least seven lawyers and spent nearly £ 500,000 in legal fees to get an injunction against the newspaper.

Under the court's decision, it is illegal to disclose the identity of the businessman or identify companies, as well as what he is accused of to do or how much he paid his alleged victims.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May told MPs that it was "clear" that some employers were using non-disclosure agreements in an "unethical" way, but declined to comment "a case particular who is currently before the courts ".

Ms May said the government would examine ways to improve the rules on non-disclosure agreements and make them "explicit" to companies when they could not be used.

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