MPs back motion urging Sir Philip Green be stripped of knighthood

Their backing is not binding but their recommendation will heap pressure on the Honours Forfeiture Committee, which will confidentially consider the case.

The motion was made by Richard Fuller, conservative MP for Bedford and Kempston, who sat on the joint select committee, which examined the collapse of BHS following its sale to Dominic Chappell by Green.

MPs laid into Green and others on the Taveta Board such as Lord Grabiner during the debate.

Labour MP Clive Lewis likened Green to “jumping like the proverbial rat from a sinking ship” while Iain Wright MP said that the Topshop tycoon “enriched and engorged” himself on BHS.

He said Green “took the rings off BHS’S fingers, he beat it black and blue, he put it on life support… and then he asked for credit for keeping it alive”.

Wright told Parliament: “BHS is one of the biggest corporate scandals of modern times. I’m sure the whole House has sympathy for the thousands of workers and pensioners who have lost their jobs and seen their pension benefits reduced as a result of greed, incompetence and hubris.

“The reputation of business has been tarnished as a result of this greed. The vast majority of businesses are not run and managed like this. It would be wrong to tar all of business with the same brush.

“However, it is vital that this mess is sorted. Even at this late stage, Sir Philip should make amends for this whole story, and put right the wrongs that he himself engineered.”

Green has said he is “very sorry” for the hardship caused by the collapse of BHS.

As revealed by Retail Week, BHS collapsed into administration in April, one year after Green sold the department store chain to three-times bankrupt Dominic Chappell for £1. Its collapse left a pensions black hole amounting to £571m and meant that 11,000 employees lost their jobs.

The select committee which examined the affair branded Green “the unacceptable face of capitalism”.

At his appearance in front of MPs in June, Green vowed to “sort” the pensions issue and has said that he has a constructive dialogue with the Pensions Regulator. However the regulator said yesterday that it had not received a credible offer from Green during those months.

Earlier this week, lawyers commissioned by Green published an 82-page report, slamming the select committee inquiry.