THERESA: I’LL WAGE WAR ON PENSIONS COWBOYS
PM pledges an ‘anti Philip Green charter’ She savages Corbyn in candid MoS interview
THERESA MAY has vowed to bring in tough new laws to prevent a repeat of the Sir Philip Green BHS pension scandal if she wins the Election.
The Tory manifesto will include plans to stop ‘irresponsible bosses’ making millions while company pension schemes go bankrupt.
The move, dubbed the ‘anti-Philip Green charter’ by one aide, follows repeated calls to protect pensioners from ruthless bosses.
Sir Philip sold high street chain BHS for just £1 and a year later it went bust with a £571million pension deficit. A public furore
and demands to strip him of his knighthood forced him to make a grovelling apology and offer £363million to cover the loss.
Under Mrs May’s plan, the Pensions Regulator will have the power to block business takeovers if they are being used to strip pension funds.
In a clear hint that the scheme is targeted at the likes of Sir Philip, a spokesman for the PM said: ‘Employees of large, household-name companies have found their pensions put at risk by irresponsible behaviour of bosses. In extreme cases, the Pensions Regulator could be given new powers to stand in the way of takeovers.’
The regulator would also be able to impose massive fines on bosses who ‘wilfully left a scheme under-resourced’. Company directors could also be struck off.
Meanwhile a new law will make it illegal ‘to intentionally or recklessly put pension schemes at risk’.
Sir Philip was branded ‘the unacceptable face of capitalism’ by MPs after BHS collapsed. He bought it in 2000 and withdrew £400million in dividend payments before selling it to three-times-bankrupt ex-racing driver Dominic Chappell for £1 in 2015. A year later it collapsed with the loss of 11,000 jobs and was unable to meet pension commitments to 19,000 former employees.
Mrs May disclosed the crackdown after an interview with The Mail on Sunday in which she branded Jeremy Corbyn ‘weak, unstable, nonsensical and floundering’ and vowed to unite Leave and Remain voters.
She also said she prays for ‘spiritual connection’ – and told how she has grown more confident since becoming PM.
Mrs May also shrugged off a suggestion that her type 1 diabetes, which requires insulin injections, could hinder her in marathon Brexit negotiations.
A medical ‘pen’ enables her to inject discreetly without leaving the room, she said.
Mrs May also gave a rare insight into her and husband Philip’s private life, saying she loves to cook Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s marinated rack of lamb with coriander.
In another development yesterday, No10 denied claims that a new Conservative government would impose capital gains tax on the sale of a family’s main home.
Mrs May also said taxes are more likely to rise if Jeremy Corbyn wins power.