Strip Sir Philip Green of his knighthood

Strip Sir Philip Green of his knighthood

Started
1 December 2020
Petition to
Forfeiture Committee and
Petition Closed
This petition had 257,070 supporters

Why this petition matters

Started by Sophia Mepham

Sir Philip Green's net worth is £930m according to the Sunday Times rich list, although other reports say it's even higher. His retail empire has just collapsed, taking along with it employees financial stability and part of their hard earned pensions.

Sir Phillip Green is a British businessman, whose wife is the owner of the investment group Taveta Investments. This said investment group owns the retail company 'Arcadia Group' for which Green is Chairman. It is made up of fashion brands such as Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, in total eight high street retailers.

Sir Philip Green was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours "For services to the Retail Industry".

Now, it is 2020 and for a number of years the Arcadia Group has continued to spiral in to financial turmoil, ending in the Arcadia Group going in to administration on 30th November 2020. Putting 13,000 jobs at risk, along with over 10,000 of the employees pensions pots at risk of being cut.

This said pension pot has an estimated deficit of £350m, which at the time of writing both the industry and MP's have called on Green to plug the shortfall, whilst he sits on his £100m yacht, in Monaco (the tax haven he lives in with his wife, not to be confused with where Taveta Investments is registered - in another tax haven, Jersey).

Sir Philip Green has mis-managed the Arcadia Group by not providing the resources it requires (both financial or otherwise) to stop the company going in to the brink of financial ruin for years. He is responsible for putting peoples livelihoods in jeopardy.

Adding to it now, the uncertainty around him plugging the deficit of the pension pots. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he 'stands ready' to help the employees at risk of job losses at Arcadia. However, when a man has become so incredibly wealthy from a retail empire, (allegedly avoiding tax), he should not be seeking help from the official lifeboat scheme - the Pension Protection Fund or the government to use taxpayers money to fund the deficit.

Other holders of a knighthood that have been revoked include, Fred Goodwin who is the former RBS boss. He was knighted in 2004 for 'Services to the Banking Industry' but his title was revoked because he let the bank to the brink of collapse in 2008. The Cabinet Office based their decision on the fact that the catastrophe required a £45billion bailout from the taxpayer.

Green does not deserve a knighthood 'For Services to the Retail Industry', the only service this man has provided is to help Arcadia Group's 13,000 employees have an uncertain future. He too, much like Fred Goodwin, has left the Arcadia Group, which is owned by his company Taveta Investments on the brink of collapse.

To get a knighthood stripped we need to get the Forfeiture Committee to consider the honour be removed. The Committee’s recommendations for forfeiture are submitted through the Prime Minister to the Queen, who will then approve it.

By signing this petition, we can get this issue in the laps of the Forfeiture Committee and strip Sir Philip Green of his knighthood.

Photo credit: Xposure for The Times 

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This petition had 257,070 supporters

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