Long-time rival to Sir Philip Green Lord Myners has called for the former BHS boss to “calm down” after calling for the resignation of Frank Field MP.
Last week Green called for Field, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, to step down from the inquiry. Field called Green a “master of bullying” and claimed that he should be stricken of his knighthood if he failed to uphold his “moral duty to make good the pension scheme…”
“Clearly, he has made his decision,” Green said in response, but rather than answer Green directly Field responded by recruiting Lord Myners to the committee.
Myners has since defended Field, saying “it is natural for politicians to have views, but that does not meant every on the Committee will share that view. To want to ask questions does not mean that people have made their minds up.
“Sir Philip Green‘s comments about prejudice that he seems to be confusing this inquiry with a court of law.”
The committee, which will have cross-party representation, will begin its inquiry on Monday afternoon.
“My advice to Sir Philip is to calm down and understand that the Select Committee is an opportunity to explain. If he thinks he has been vilified, he can respond there on the record.”
Myners and Green have come to blows before: in 2004 Myners resisted an attempt by Green to buy M&S. After being asked over the phone by Green about why a public enquiry was necessary, Myners supposedly said he was on the Committee “to ensure the right questions were being asked and that they were being answered fully.”
Meanwhile Dominic Chappell has again made clear his willingness to appear before MPs. The former racing driver has his own questions to answer over his tenure at BHS. A day after buying the business he extracted £8.4m, took a £1.3m company loan to pay his father‘s mortgage and moved an additional £1.5m overseas, returning all but £50,000 which supposedly covered foreign exchange costs.
The BIS Select Committee is expected to call Green, Chappell and others to give evidence in June.
