Sir Philip Green slams MPs' report on BHS collapse as 'bizarre'

Sir Philip Green has attacked the conclusions of the parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of BHS, following a review by his lawyers.

A statement issued through the retail tycoon's holding company, Taveta Investments, described the findings of the joint Work and Pensions and Business committees as "bizarre" and "unsupportable".

It labelled the inquiry a "kangaroo court".

The findings of the probe criticised Sir Philip for taking money out of BHS, selling it to bankrupt businessman Dominic Chappell for £1, and for leaving the retailer with a £571m pension deficit.

He is now facing the prospect of losing his knighthood at a time when he says he is still working on a plan to ease the pension pain for 20,000 former BHS staff.

Eleven thousand workers lost their jobs when BHS ceased trading in August.

He refused to discuss his handling of the saga when confronted by Sky News in the summer.

The Taveta statement said the £400m in dividends were not responsible for the pension deficit because the fund was in surplus at the time.

"The law does not prevent a company from paying dividends because of a risk that the company might become insolvent many years later.

"The main causes of the pension deficit were the increasing longevity of pensioners and the global financial crisis in 2008," it said.

It insisted Sir Philip had invested more than his family had taken out.

The statement added: "There was nothing unlawful, improper or even unusual about Taveta and Sir Philip Green's decision to assist Dominic Chappell and Retail Acquisitions Limited in the purchase of BHS.

"The Select Committees' criticism in this regard is bizarre."

However, it added: "The Taveta directors very much regret the terrible impact that the failure of BHS has had on former BHS staff and BHS pensioners and we accept that, with hindsight, it was a mistake to sell BHS to Retail Acquisitions Limited and Dominic Chappell.

"But it was an honest mistake and the sale was made in good faith to a buyer who retained a large team of well-known professional advisers, including Olswang and Grant Thornton."

Frank Field, who chairs the Work and Pensions Committee of MPs (BSE: MPSLTD.BO - news) , said the Commons would "draw its own conclusions" on Sir Philip's actions when it debates his knighthood this week.

He defended the report, saying it was "agreed unanimously" by MPs from two different select committees and was based on "huge amounts of evidence".

The other committee chair, Iain Wright, described Sir Philip's statement as a further attempt "to wiggle off the hook for his responsibilities to BHS pension holders."

Sky News reported last week how the biggest creditor in BHS when it collapsed, the Pension Protection Fund, was demanding it be liquidated in a bid to accelerate investigations into former directors.