Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/707940
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 JULY 2016 News IN ALL LEADING BOOK SHOPS HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY IN MALTA Disgraced former BHS chief gets lewd welcome as his superyacht docks in Malta A group of sunbathers f lashed their bikini-clad bottoms and gave the two-finger salute to Sir Philip Green, as the former BHS owner's superyacht docked in Malta. He arrived in Grand Harbour just hours before House of Commons MPs released a dam- ming report on the collapse of BHS, in which they accused Green of "systematically plun- dering" the retail business, that once employed some 11,000 people. The Daily Mail reported that the women – who chose to re- main anonymous – wanted to protest at Green's "disgusting" behaviour. "We arrived and we heard that this boat had come into the harbour. We saw the ship and thought how disgusting it is," one of the women said. "It's obscene what he's getting away with. It's a magnificent ship, but it's not right. We were coming back following a day out on the boat and thought we'd make a little gesture towards it. I don't think there was any reaction from the boat, but from the po- sition we were in we couldn't see for sure." MPs on the work and pen- sions select committee and the business, innovation and skills committee said on Monday that the "tragedy" of BHS was the "unacceptable face of capital- ism" and raised questions about how the governance of private companies and their pension funds should be regulated. Green, whose Arcadia Group owns Topshop and Miss Selfridge, purchased BHS in 2000 but sold it for £1 in 2015 to Dominic Chappell, a thrice- bankrupt former racing driver with no retail experience. It fell into administration in April this year, costing around 11,000 jobs and threatening the in- come of some 20,000 pension- ers. "Green's reputation as the king of retail lies in the ruins of BHS. His family took out of BHS and Arcadia a fortune be- yond the dreams of avarice and he's still to make good his boast of 'fixing' the pension fund," work and pensions commit- tee chairman Frank Field said. "What kind of man is it who can count his fortune in billions but does not know what decent be- haviour is?" Shadow chancellor John Mc- Donnell said: "If Philip Green won't do the right thing by the members of the BHS pension fund then he should have his knighthood removed. And if he says he can't afford it then he should sell up his extra yacht." The newly-purchased supery- acht – reportedly Philip Green's third – is the length of a football pitch and is believed to sleep 12 guests and 28 crew. Called the Lionheart, it is said to include a swimming pool, a hot tub, three lifts, a beauty salon, a barbecue and a f leet of jet-skis. It has now departed Malta and is currently moored off the Greek island of Skopelos. Sunbathers protest as disgraced businessman Sir Philip Green's £100 million superyacht sails into Grand Harbour Busuttil's support of Freeport expansion 'detrimental to residents' SIMON Busuttil's support for further expansion of the Freeport in Birzebbugia would be detri- mental to residents, the Labour Party said yesterday. Lambasting Busuttil for his U- turn on statements that "ODZ is ODZ" and no development on such land must take place, the PL said the PN leader was now sup- porting the development of agri- cultural land in Birzebbugia. "This is the same Simon Busut- til who was part of the govern- ment that used the south of Malta as the island's dump yard and treated residents there as second class citizens," the PL said. It went on to point out that the Labour party in government had taken measures to help improve the air quality of the south of Malta and build projects – such as football and water polo pitches – to help the communities. "Simon Busuttil is not happy about this positive change and he was 'shocked' to hear the Prime Minister standing against further development of the Freeport," the Labour party said, adding that Busuttil's statement had shocked residents. In a reaction, the Nationalist Party accused Muscat of "launch- ing an attack" against the Free- port and its workers, claiming that this was "synonymous with a politician who is out of touch". It said that for all its talk, the Labour government would be placing a gas tanker whilst the PN in government had left "a huge legacy". It also said that, with his position against further Freeport expansion, the Labour govern- ment has now proven to be "a clique of political elites" – hurl- ing back a description used by Muscat to describe Busuttil fol- lowing the outcome of the Brexit referendum. The Labour Party took Simon Busuttil to task over his belief that the Freeport should be expanded further, 'building on agricultural land'