Demands for Green to lose his knighthood

THERESA MAY is facing mounting pressure to intervene over Sir Philip Green’s knighthood after members of her Cabinet said it was a “disgrace”.

The Government is under pressure to ask the forfeiture committee to examine whether he should lose his knighthood, awarded by Tony Blair’s Labour government in 2006.

One Cabinet minister told The Daily Telegraph: “It is clearly the case that he is beyond the pale and shouldn’t have been honoured for his contribution in the first place.” Another said: “It’s a complete disgrace, he should be stripped of his knighthood.”

The forfeiture committee looks into cases where an individual has brought the honours system into disrepute. People who have lost their honours include Fred Goodwin, the disgraced bank chief, and Rolf Harris, convicted of sex offences.

In 2012, David Cameron, the former prime minister, was said to have “signalled” to the committee that Mr Goodwin’s knighthood should be removed.

Sir Philip had previously survived calls for him to lose the honour after the collapse of BHS with a £571million pensions “black hole”. He was criticised for selling BHS for £1 to twice bankrupt Dominic Chappell in 2015.

Writing today in The Telegraph, Frank Field, an independent MP and chairman of the work and pensions select committee, says it is “surely time” to reconsider Sir Philip’s knighthood.

Ian Lavery, the Labour Party chairman, said: “If the allegations are true, then [he] should be stripped of his knighthood. The public rightly expects high standards from public figures.”