Women’s champion Brady drawn into Green scandal
Baroness faces questions over Metoo claims at tycoon’s companies she chaired Knighthood under review, says No10 as reports emerge of seven-figure staff payouts Former pensions minister claims she was ‘bullied’ during BHS investigation
BARONESS BRADY, the Government’s small business adviser and BBC star, was last night drawn into the growing furore surrounding Sir Philip Green and allegations against him of sexual harassment and racial abuse.
The Conservative peer, an outspoken defender of women’s rights in the workplace, is the chairman of Taveta, the holding company of Sir Philip’s Arcadia retail empire.
She was brought in to clean up corporate governance at the firm in the wake of the BHS pension scandal, and well-placed sources have claimed she has known for several months about a series of substantial payments made to employees making sexual and racial harassment claims.
Lady Brady, the Government and the BBC have refused to comment on what she knew about the scandal and last night she remained chairman of Sir Philip’s company.
There are growing calls for her to appear before Parliament in the coming weeks to answer questions about what she knew or should have known about the payments and the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAS) to silence employees.
Sir Philip was this week named in Parliament as the businessman who had taken out an injunction against The
Daily Telegraph to stop it reporting allegations of sexual harassment and racial abuse against him and his attempt to gag former staff with NDAS.
This newspaper is unable to report details of its eight-month investigation because the injunction remains in place.
Last night media reports claimed that he had paid staff members sevenfigure sums to hush up allegations of sexual harassment and bullying, which, if true, would make the payments some of the biggest recorded for sexual harassment.
The reports alleged that Sir Philip gave employees “lingering hugs”, asked them if they were “naughty girls”, whether they needed their “bottoms slapped” and made comments about their weight.
It was also reported that there were at least seven cases in which former staff members had received substantial payouts to settle complaints. “Senior executives at the company were reportedly aware of Green’s behaviour but had no appetite to challenge him,” according to a newspaper report.
When they raised the matter with colleagues “it would be [a case of ] ‘Well, he’s old school, you can’t change that generation’. It was always played down”.
On Thursday Lord Hain, the former leader of the House of Commons, used parliamentary privilege to reveal the businessman had taken out an injunction against The Telegraph.
The peer said he believed it was his “duty” to name Sir Philip following two days of speculation about the identity of the individual at the centre of the claims. The decision has been attacked by some lawyers but welcomed by women’s groups who described him as a “hero”.
Following the disclosure by Lord Hain, Sir Philip has faced calls for his knighthood to be removed and for a crackdown on the use of NDAS by “serial offenders” to prevent complaints against them being made public.
Yesterday the Prime Minister’s spokesman said that his honour was under review as the forfeiture committee “are constantly reviewing evidence in relation to matters like this”.
In an article in today’s Telegraph, Baroness Altmann, the Conservative peer and former pensions minister, says she was “bullied and intimidated” by the businessman when he was being investigated by the pensions regulator over the BHS scandal. She says that when she was pensions minister under David Cameron, Sir Philip believed that “because we shared acquaintances outside of the business world, that I would break the rules for him”.
The potential role of Lady Brady has now been pulled into focus because of her position as chairman of Taveta Investments, the holding company.
Sources close to Arcadia told The Telegraph that Lady Brady was regularly seen at the company’s offices in London and they raised questions about whether the peer had ever seen Sir Philip behave “inappropriately” towards staff.
Lady Brady, one of Britain’s most high profile businesswomen, is probably most widely known for appearing
on the BBC programme The Apprentice with Lord Sugar. She was appointed as the government’s small business adviser in 2013.
Lady Brady has sat on the board of Taveta for eight years and became the organisation’s chairman in 2017. It is understood that she is closely involved with Arcadia because the firm is Taveta’s only asset.
Last night, Labour MPS called for her to answer questions about her involvement and appear before a parliamentary select committee.
Jess Phillips, the Labour MP and campaigner for women’s rights, said: “I do not know whether Baroness Brady has been kept completely in the dark about this, but she needs to come forward and say what she did and didn’t know and she needs to make sure that she has never backed the silencing of complainants.”
Tonia Antoniazzi, like Ms Phillips a member of the women and equalities committee, said: “If she has had oversight then she should stand down.”
John Mann, the campaigning Labour MP, said MPS on the House of Commons business, energy and industrial strategy committee should question both Lady Brady and Sir Philip about the agreements.
Mr Mann told The Daily Telegraph: “I am sure the select committee will invite her in to see what has been going on. Green should be called in again and anyone else involved at a senior level.”
Yesterday lawyers for The Telegraph wrote to Schillings, the legal team acting for Sir Philip Green, inviting them to “withdraw these proceedings and agree to the discharge” of the temporary injunction. Schillings has declined the invitation.
It came after Sir Philip issued a statement refusing to discuss what had happened in court or in Parliament but denying any unlawful sexist or racist behaviour.
The letter stated: “In the circumstances, including the very wide coverage given to this matter throughout the media, we do not see what continuing
‘She needs to make sure that she has never backed the silencing of complainants’
purpose there can be in maintaining the injunction any longer.
“If your clients do not agree our clients will pursue this matter to trial as quickly as possible.”
On Thursday, Sir Philip issued a statement denying any such behaviour. “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.”
Last night it was reported that Sir Philip was staying at his home in Tucson, Arizona, within the grounds of a luxury health spa favoured by Hollywood celebrities.