Government must make auditors tighten up with failing firms to aid employees

GOVERNMENT surely needs to tighten up on the role company auditors perform in the interests of employees and taxpayers and not just shareholders.

Closure of 163 BHS stores, with up to 11,000 employees losing their livelihood, is bad enough but we learn Sir Philip Green and shareholders enjoyed nearly £600 million in dividends before BHS changed ownership for £1, yet BHS pension fund was heading for a £500 million plus black hole. Was nothing learned from the Robert Maxwell fiasco?

The Pension Protection Fund, which is already paying out to more than 150,000 people whose firms went bust, will be stretched again and taxpayers may end up contributing while Sir Philip enjoys his latest super-yacht and life in Monaco.

David Cameron has said little but after becoming Prime Minister in 2010 he appointed Sir Philip Green to head an efficiency review of Government spending which reported that millions were wasted by failing government! Will taxpayers be expected to pay for failing companies after their owners enjoy the dividends?

Jim Craigen

Downie Grove, Edinburgh

Apparently £43 million last year wasn’t enough. Advertising giant WPP is now paying CEO Sir Martin Sorrell £70m. Am I living in a different world?

Sir Martin Sorrell is in a league of his own when it comes to high pay. Even the bosses of other big companies think this is out of control and the Chief Economist of the Bank of England has noted that excessive high pay is harmful to the wider economy. The growing trend for excessive high pay needs to be stopped. We should pass a maximum-wage law so that all members of our comminity can have a life – not just a few thousand.

B McKenna

Overtoun Avenue, Dumbarton