INSOLVENCY SERVICE DECISION ON SIR PHILIP GREEN

That this House expresses disgust at the Insolvency Service's decision not to ban billionaire Philip Green from serving as a company director for his disgraceful stewardship of BHS prior to selling the company for £1; notes that under Mr Green's mismanagement, that long-running British business collapsed with a pension deficit of more than £500 million; expresses concern at the impact on hardworking BHS staff of losing their jobs and having their pensions put at risk; further notes that Mr Green and other shareholders extracted £586 million from BHS, and Mr Green indulged in a grotesquely lavish lifestyle including a £150 million yacht, while the UK taxpayer had to pay £367 million in tax credits to BHS workers whose wages were not enough to live on; observes that Mr Green allowed Dominic Chappell to take over BHS despite the fact that Chappell had been bankrupt three times; notes that Green's businesses are registered in Monaco, a tax haven, in order to escape paying tax which should have gone to the UK Exchequer and been spent on essential public services; believes that Green has demonstrated that he is not a fit or proper person to run any business, and should not be permitted to do so; calls on the Insolvency Service to urgently reconsider the decision not to impose a ban; and further believes that banning Green would be good for business in the UK and would show that this kind of predatory exploitation of workers and the public purse is unacceptable.