Name left in tatters

SIR Philip Green did not have much of a reputation to defend.

What was left of it was shredded yesterday when he was named by Peter Hain as the businessman accused of sexual harassment.

Lord Hain told peers Green used the courts to stop a newspaper revealing that he had paid large sums to victims of his alleged behaviour.

He said non-disclosure deals, which stopped those who signed them speaking out, hid the truth “about serious and repeated sexual harassment, racist abuse and bullying”.

He said he named Green because there was a clear public interest. And he is right.

Surely staff have a right to know if their boss has bought the silence of previous employees?

Surely the public should know if a tycoon, who has worked for the Government, is involved in a litigation battle?

This is another example of the rich and powerful using money to hide their secrets.

Such expensive legal protection is rarely on offer to survivors of sex abuse and harassment.

Green kept his knighthood despite his role in the fall of BHS that cost 11,000 jobs. If these allegations are right, he should lose his honour.