Sir Philip Green named as #Metoo scandal businessman
Lord Hain uses parliamentary privilege to identify Topshop owner as the man whose injunction gagged the Telegraph
‘Today we have proven that wealth and power and arrogance will not always provide you with cover’ Jess Phillips, Labour MP
SIR PHILIP GREEN was yesterday named in Parliament as the businessman at the centre of the British Metoo scandal revealed by The Daily Telegraph.
The Topshop owner was identified by Lord Hain, the former Labour cabinet minister, after two days of speculation over the name of the man who had taken out an injunction against this newspaper to stop it reporting allegations of sexual harassment and racial abuse against him and his attempts to gag former staff with non-disclosure agreements (NDAS).
The peer said he had been contacted by someone “intimately involved in the case” and felt a “duty” to name the businessman using parliamentary privilege.
Following Lord Hain’s comments, there were calls for the billionaire to be stripped of his knighthood and for a crackdown on the use of NDAS by “serial offenders” to prevent complaints against them being made public.
Sir Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: “I find it very difficult to see how he could credibly hold on to an honour in these circumstances.”
Frank Field, the MP for Birkenhead who previously led condemnation of Sir Philip after the collapse of BHS, said: “The charge sheet against the knighthood is growing. Parliament and the country have made their views clear on this matter. Ultimately it’s a decision for the honours forfeiture committee.”
He added that he was planning to raise with ministers the need for a mechanism for abuse victims’ voices to be heard in Parliament. No10 said that it could not comment on ongoing cases.
Sir Philip last night refused to comment on “anything that has happened in court or was said in Parliament today”, but denied any “unlawful sexual or racist behaviour”.
The Telegraph has spent the past eight months investigating serious allegations made against a leading businessman, and the lengths he has gone to cover up the claims.
However, on Tuesday this newspaper was prevented from revealing details of the NDAS by Sir Terence Etherton, the Master of the Rolls, the second most senior judge in England and Wales. The injunction prohibited The Telegraph from disclosing the businessman’s identity or identifying the companies involved, as well as what he is accused of doing or how much he paid his alleged victims.
It was the latest twist in a legal fight which began in July and saw the Court of Appeal rule that the confidentiality of contracts was more important than freedom of speech. It overturned a High Court ruling which found that publication of the allegations would be overwhelmingly in the public interest. As well as re-igniting the Metoo de- bate, the gagging of The Telegraph has renewed controversy about the use of injunctions to limit press freedom.
Lord Hain yesterday told the House of Lords: “Having been contacted by someone intimately involved in the case of a powerful businessman using non-disclosure agreements and substantial payments to conceal the truth about serious and repeated sexual harassment, racist abuse and bullying, which is compulsively continuing, I feel it’s my duty under parliamentary privilege to name Philip Green as the individual in question, given that the media have been subject to an injunc- tion preventing publication of the full details of this story, which is clearly in the public interest.”
After his statement, Jess Phillips, the Labour MP who sits on the women and equalities committee, said: “I think that today we have proven that wealth and power and arrogance will not always provide you with cover. Whilst people can be silenced with money, as is often the case, I am pleased that actually that has its limits and that we respect the spirit of the law when people like this are revealed.”
Maria Miller, chairman of the women and equalities committee, said: “Given the huge influence that Philip Green has in the business world and the thousands of people that work for him, it is surprising that the Court of Appeal decided that it wasn’t in the public interest to make this more public.
“I think that we now have to answer another question when it comes to NDAS, which is how we stop them being used to cover up serial offenders. That has to be a point that is answered by the government proposals.”
There has been growing condemnation over the use of NDAS in this way from campaigners and senior legal figures, including three former home secretaries, a former director of public prosecutions and a former solicitor general. Amber Rudd, the former home secretary, said: “My concern is that these are being used to intimidate people who would otherwise speak up about illegal activity, by that I mean sexual harassment. We need to stop it.”
Carolyn Fairbairn, the CBI directorgeneral, said: “Sexual harassment and racial abuse is illegal and has absolutely no place in modern Britain. Accusa- tions this serious must be thoroughly and quickly investigated.”
Theresa May has said she will bring forward a consultation on reform of the use of NDAS.
Sir Philip said in a statement last night: “I am not commenting on anything that has happened in court or was said in Parliament today. 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. Arcadia employs more than 20,000 people and in common with many large businesses sometimes receives formal complaints from employees. In some cases, these are settled with the agreement of all parties and their legal advisers. These settlements are confidential so I cannot comment further on them.”