Why won’t Brady, scourge of sexists, denounce Green?
BARONESS Brady faced growing criticism last night over her failure to condemn Sir Philip Green – despite vilifying other powerful men facing similar allegations.
The government advisor refused to resign as chairman of the tycoon’s business empire as claims of sexual harassment, bullying and racism continue to mount against him.
Lady Brady, a champion of women in the workplace, has routinely criticised other powerful men accused of sexual misconduct.
She has hit out at their ‘fundamental lack of respect for others’ and the way their behaviour was ‘frequently covered up’. But Lady Brady, who is chairman of Taveta Investments – the company that owns Sir Philip’s Arcadia Group – has remained silent over his attempts to hush up claims of harassment.
MPs last night questioned her suitability as a government advisor and suggested she was ‘protecting’ her friend. Frank Field, independent MP for Birkenhead, told the Daily Mail: ‘Her defence of Philip Green makes her unsuitable to hold this government appointment for small businesses when many of those small businesses will be run by women.’
Labour MP Jess Phillips, who sits on the Commons women and equalities committee, added: ‘You cannot dine out on women’s rights on one hand and then quit when it gets hard. Nothing will change if we vilify others and protect our mates.’
Tory peer Baroness Ros Altmann, who has said she was ‘ bullied and intimidated’ by Sir Philip over the Bhs pensions scandal, said: ‘I do hope and expect that Karren Brady would be standing up for and protecting women, and making sure there is a culture that promotes respect for women, men and indeed everybody.’
Sir Philip dropped a court injunction on Friday that stopped the media reporting allegations made by five former staff. One female executive is said to have received more than £1million after complaining that Sir Philip groped her. Other complaints include that he grabbed the face of another woman and put a third female worker in a headlock and sexually harassed her.
The Topshop tycoon is also accused of telling a senior black employee that he was still ‘throwing spears in the jungle’, making fun of his dreadlocks and saying he smoked cannabis. Lawyers, MPs and campaigners have called for police to investigate the allegations. Anti-racism campaigners said the alleged abuse of a black employee warranted a police probe.
Arcadia, which owns Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton, faced accusations of a cover-up yesterday after it emerged crucial witness accounts were left out of a report into sexual harassment. Two male executives
‘Vilify others and protect our mates’
told a lawyer they had watched Sir Philip as he ‘slapped’ a woman’s bottom on several occasions, but their comments did not appear in a final report into the allegations, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Despite the scandal, Lady Brady – one of Lord Sugar’s assistants in BBC’s The Apprentice – said she would ‘not be resigning’, adding ‘Why should I?’ In November 2017, she condemned Sir Michael Fallon, who quit as Defence Secretary over inappropriate behaviour that included touching the knee of a female journalist.
She accused Mr Fallon, Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey of abusing their power ‘because they have a fundamental lack of respect for others’ and warned that it is never acceptable for a man to touch a female colleague.
Lady Brady said they had been allowed to get away with it as their behaviour ‘has frequently been covered up for them’. The football executive, who is vice- chairman of West Ham United, said she once sacked a player accused of assaulting a woman, despite his value to the club, while hitting out at employers who ‘turn a blind eye’ to such allegations.