Sir Philip Green blasts MP Frank Field for ‘turning inquiry into collapse of BHS into a kangaroo court’

EX-BHS boss Sir Philip Green has accused Frank Field of turning a parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of the high street chain into a "kangaroo court".

In a letter to the Labour MP, who is the chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, Sir Philip restated he had not broken any rules and said the MP had tried to create a "false narrative".

He added there had been "real progress" with the pension regulator towards a solution to the BHS pension fund but stressed he was under "no legal liability".

Sir Philip is facing mounting pressure to be stripped of his knighthood and to rectify the black hole in the pension fund after an excoriating joint report by two Commons select committees.

The letter said: "I have tried to stay silent in the face of your regular outbursts and to focus on the important task of working towards a solution for the BHS pensioners.

"But I am not prepared to continue to allow your abuse to go unanswered.

"Even before the parliamentary inquiry started hearing from witnesses, you turned it into little more than a kangaroo court, with your constant press campaign barracking and insulting me and my family and your announcement from day one that the predetermined result of the inquiry was that I either sign a large cheque or lose my knighthood."

The letter come after Mr Field gave an interview in The Times on Saturday in which he said he had "mis-read" the retail magnate and suggested "why the hell doesn't he just sign the cheque?"

Sir Philip responded in his letter by saying: "Your repeated attempts to lead the public into thinking that it is simply a matter of me writing a cheque are utterly disingenuous."

The latest twist also comes after lawyers acting for Sir Philip wrote to Mr Field over his comments in a BBC Radio 4 Today programme interview.

Mr Field said Sir Philip is "much worse" than media mogul Robert Maxwell, who raided the pension pot of the Mirror Group newspaper business.

He described Sir Philip as a "Napoleon figure" floating around on his yacht, having "orchestrated" an "old-fashioned classical asset-stripping" which has put the jobs of 11,000 BHS workers at risk and left 22,000 pensioners with a risky future.

Sir Philip said "defamatory remarks" by Mr Field put a solution "at risk", and the process and timetable for solving the issue was set by the Pensions Regulator.

He added: "But you should be in no doubt, Mr Field, that any solution relies on a voluntary decision on our side to support the BHS pension schemes.

"There is no legal liability to make any payment to support the schemes.

"Indeed, I am unaware of any precedent for any private company or individual doing so."

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