Sir Philip Green is ‘EVIL for destroying BHS’, says MP Frank Field
SHAMED Sir Philip Green was dubbed "evil"; by Labour MP Frank Field yesterday as their bitter war of words escalated.
The veteran campaigning MP said the under-fire Topshop tycoon needed to “face up to the evil he has done in destroying BHS, workers' jobs, and pension fund liabilities”.
It came as the former BHS boss issued a thinly-veiled threat Mr Field’s attacks were sabotaging plans to save BHS pensioners.
Sir Philip Green accused the co-chair of a parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of the high street chain of overseeing a "kangaroo court".
And he insisted he has not broken any rules and there was "no legal liability" for him to fill a £571m pension deficit.
Related stories
The yacht-loving businessman said the timetable for solving the issue had been set by the Pensions Regulator and was "cumbersome and slow".
He added chillingly: "If you continue to seek to usurp the Pension Regulator's role with your characteristically unfathomable statements and hurl daily abuse at us, any failure to arrive at a pensions solution will be down to you."
In his letter, Sir Philip said he had tried to stay silent and focus on working towards a solution for the BHS pensioners but was "not prepared to continue to allow your abuse to go unanswered".
But Mr Field said Sir Philip needed to dig deep and write a "big cheque" to sort it out and accused Sir Philip of "displacement therapy".
The Labour MP said he hoped to meet with the pensions regulator and the head of the Serious Fraud Office this week to discuss what progress is being made on the issue.
Last week lawyers for Sir Philip demanded an apology from Mr Field claiming he had made a "highly defamatory and completely false" statement.