The Labour party have called for an overhaul of employment law, following the disastrous collapse of BHS.
They have asked for improvements to the rights and protections of workers, and higher wages for those in the lowest paid jobs.
The move follows the 20,000 people who have potentially lost their pensions savings after BHS had filed for administration in June. The retailer has now left a pensions deficit of £571 million to plug, with many employees fearing the worst.
In a spat with Commons Work and pensions Committee chairman, Frank Field, former BHS owner Sir Philip Green was accused of “doing evil” in “destroying BHS”, watching as its pensions deficit rapidly spiralled out of control.
Green should be “facing up to the evil that he has done in destroying BHS, workers’ jobs, and pension fund liabilities, and we need now for him to do something about it, which is write that big cheque”, said Field.
He added: “This is the man that’s responsible for the destruction of 11,000 jobs, putting 22,000 pensions at risk. He said he was going to ‘fix it, fix it, fix it’, when he was with us – he hasn’t done so.”
Green has insisted that there is “no legal liability” for him to fill the £571 million pensions deficit.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had also criticised Green, saying he had “asset-stripped the company” and “left the Government to pick up the pieces”.
He added: “The former BHS owner will never know the insecurity faced by his ex-employees or millions of other workers legally exploited by bad bosses.”
Corbyn has upheld a stern view on zero-hour contacts, and condemned the record levels of poverty among those in work.
It should be mandatory for employers with more than 250 staff to bargain collectively with unions, said Corbyn, in a bid to guarantee fair pay.
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