MPs could strip Sir Philip Green of knighthood over BHS scandal

MPs could be given a vote to strip Sir Philip Green of his knighthood when they debate the collapse of BHS next week.

A discussion about the retail chain is scheduled to take place in the House of Commons on Thursday 20 October.

MPs will call on Sir Philip to address the BHS pension fund deficit as part of a motion tabled by Frank Field, chairman of the Work and Pensions select committee, and Iain Wright, chairman of the Business, Innovation and Skills select committee.

Business committee members Richard Fuller and Michelle Thomson are pushing to go even further.

They have tabled an amendment which suggests the actions of Sir Philip “raise the question of whether he should be allowed to continue to be a holder of the honour”.

• READ MORE: Sir Philip Green’s superyacht renamed ‘BHS Destroyer’

It calls on the Honours Forfeiture Committee to cancel and annul Sir Philip’s knighthood.

The two committees conducted an inquiry into the collapse of BHS and Mr Fuller told the Press Association the evidence he heard prompted his bid for a Commons vote to remove Sir Philip’s knighthood.

He said: “To say that somebody can continue to have an honour in the light of that is questionable. In my view it would be wrong and inappropriate for him to continue to have that knighthood.”

BHS went into administration shortly after being sold for £1 by former owner Sir Philip, with a reported £600 million pension scheme deficit.

The BHS debate has been scheduled by the backbench business committee and any vote would be unbinding.

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