The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Topshop boss exposed in media gagging row
Parliament: Peer names Sir Philip Green over reporting ban Couple terrified as men break in
Topshop owner Sir Philip Green has been named in parliament as the businessman behind a media injunction.
Former Cabinet minister Lord Hain said he had been contacted by someone “intimately involved” in the case and felt it was his duty to use parliamentary privilege to name the retail tycoon.
Lord Hain’s intervention came after Court of Appeal judges temporarily barred the Daily Telegraph from publishing “confidential information” from five employees about a figure it described as a “leading businessman”.
The paper wants to reveal what it calls “alleged sexual harassment and racial abuse of staff ”, who have been prevented from discussing their claims by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
The Labour peer told the House of Lords: “Having been contacted by somebody 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 injunction preventing publication of the full details of a story which is clearly in the public interest.”
After his remarks were made in the chamber and broadcast on parliamentlive.tv, Lord Hain confirmed that his statement referred to the Topshop boss.
On Wednesday Theresa May pledged to hasten measures to improve regulation around so-called gagging clauses in response to questions about the case.
The prime minister said some employers were using non-disclosure agreements “unethically” as she
“I feel it’s my duty under parliamentary privilege”
criticised “abhorrent” sexual harassment in the workplace.
Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Labour MP Jess Phillips asked Mrs May to comment on the use of NDAs to “silence” accusers, adding: “It seems that our laws allow rich and powerful men to pretty much do whatever they want as long as they can pay to keep it quiet.”
The prime minister said she would bring forward consultation measures to improve regulation and make it “absolutely explicit” when the contracts cannot be enforced. A couple were left terrified when three men broke into their home and ordered them to hand over money and possessions.
The 74-year-old man and 72-year-old woman were at home in Irvine, North Ayrshire, when the men smashed through patio doors.
The man was struck on the arm with what is thought to have been a metal bar. The men made off with a three-figure sum of cash and bank cards.