THERESA May wants to “reform capitalism” and clamp down on reckless corporate behaviour, No 10 has insisted as, in the fall-out to the damning Commons report into the collapse of BHS, its former boss, billionaire Sir Philip Green, attracted more opprobrium.
Frank Field, the Labour veteran who chairs the Commons work and pensions committee, claimed Sir Philip was “worse than Robert Maxwell,” the late media tycoon who stole £440 million from the Mirror Group’s pension funds.
READ MORE: Sir Philip Green 'trying to find solution' for BHS pension fund and apologises to staff
He described Sir Philip as a "Napoleon figure," floating around on his yacht, having orchestrated an "old-fashioned classical asset-stripping”.
Mr Field said Sir Philip’s actions had been “much worse” than the late Robert Maxwell, explaining: “I never thought Maxwell...he was just borrowing money all over the place. This person has plundered BHS and Arcadia. The Arcadia group of companies; their pension scheme is now also in deficit.
"Money beyond the dreams of avarice have gone up to the Green family and 11,000 workers are now going to hit the dole queues, 22,000 pensioners are actually suffering cuts. That is worse because he has it in his power to do things. Maxwell didn't have it in his power. The music stopped while there was no money there," added the Birkenhead MP.
READ MORE: Sir Philip Green 'trying to find solution' for BHS pension fund and apologises to staff
Sir Philip, 64, believed to be on holiday, was unavailable for comment.
The Prime Minister's spokeswoman said Mrs May would "learn lessons for the future" from the parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of BHS, which branded Sir Philip the "unacceptable face of capitalism".
The businessman is now facing mounting pressure to be stripped of his knighthood and to rectify the black hole in the BHS pension fund.
Mrs May's spokeswoman pointed out that Whitehall’s independent Honours Forfeiture Committee was reviewing Sir Philip’s knighthood, stressing how the PM was intent on tackling corporate irresponsibility.
READ MORE: Sir Philip Green 'trying to find solution' for BHS pension fund and apologises to staff
"She has already set out that we need to tackle corporate irresponsibility, reforming capitalism so that it works for everyone, not just the privileged few, that that means in the long run doing more to prevent irresponsible and reckless behaviour."
Asked what reforming capitalism meant, the spokeswoman declined to be specific but said it was “right now that we look carefully at the policies linked to that and work out the best way forward".
Describing the Commons report into the collapse of BHS as “clearly concerning,” she said: “Action was already under way in response to the collapse of BHS; so the Insolvency Service have got their investigation, they have been asked to accelerate that; the Pensions Regulator is also looking at the issue.
"Of course, it's important that those authorities carry out their work and get on with that as swiftly as possible," she added.
The two Commons committees - work and pensions as well as business, innovation and skills - accused Sir Philip of seeking to blame anyone but himself for the firm's failure.
They said he had a "moral duty" to make a "large financial contribution" to the 20,000 pensioners, who were facing substantial cuts to their benefits.
While the committees were damning about Dominic Chappell, who bought BHS for £1, and the "directors, advisers and hangers-on" associated with the deal, they made clear the ultimate responsibility lay with Sir Philip.
The inquiry prompted senior Labour figures to call for Sir Philip to be stripped of his knighthood.
Owen Smith, who is challenging Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership, said: "The Tories should take immediate action to hold Sir Philip Green to account, starting with stripping him of his knighthood and making sure he makes a proper contribution to cover the black hole in the current pension fund.”
Jon Trickett, the shadow business secretary, called for an "immediate and thorough" review of corporate governance structures.
He added: "Actions such as Philip Green's are damaging public trust in business even though the majority of businesses act properly. Clearly, he has a great deal to answer for."
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