MPs vote in favour of stripping Sir Philip Green of knighthood

London - MPs have voted in favour of removing Sir Philip’s knighthood during a debate held at the House of Commons on Thursday concerning the role he played in the collapse of high street retailer BHS.

Although the parliamentary motion holds no official sway, it can be seen as a symbolic move and places more pressure on the Honours Forfeiture Committee, who can revoke Sir Philip Green’s knighthood. The vote is also likely to put more pressure on Green himself, who have been criticised for his both his role in the retailer’s demise as well as his lagging negotiations with the pensions regulator over the 571 million pound gap in the BHS pension fund.

Green, who was previously knighted for his serviced to the retail sector, was criticised by MPs from across the political field during the two hour debate for his and his family’s role in the fall of BHS, which led to 11,000 job losses. “[Green is a] billionaire spiv who should never have received a knighthood, a billionaire spiv who has shamed British capitalism,” said Labour MP David Winnick during the debate.

“Green took the rings from BHS’s fingers, beat it black and blue, starved it, put it on life support and then wanted credit for keeping it alive,” said Iain Wright, chair of the business, innovation and skills committee, in reference to the 400 million pound in BHS dividends paid to Green’s family during their early years of ownership.

Labour MP Frank Field argued that Green would rather lose his reputation than “surrender a modest part of his mega-fortune” to help BHS pensioners, while highlighting that Green has promised to “sort” the pension gap in June, but had yet to offer a proposal.

Photo credit: Sir Philip Green, BBC via Wikimedia Commons