MPs debating in the House of Commons today have backed a motion to strip Sir Philip Green of his knighthood following the fallout from the BHS collapse.

It is the first time MPs have tried to remove a person’s knighthood this way, and therefore, ultimately, the decision will be down to the Honours Forfeiture Committee. Conservative MP Richard Fuller, who serves on the Work and Pensions Committee, raised the motion.

In the debate Green was described as a “Napoleon”, a “Robert Maxwell”, a “billionaire spiv” and a “very successful traditional asset stripper” by varying MPs. In addition, Work and Pensions Committee chair Frank Field who published a report into this collapse said the report is not the end.

“The message that I’m sure we what to go out, is that just merely doing a report is not the end of the tail. In many of these reports we have to actually follow up, and the message to those who have lost jobs, whose pensions are uncertain, is that this place is not going to give up until we’ve gained the maximum justice that we can for you.”

He added that the government has already started the task of looking at how we reform pension law and corporate governance law.

When giving evidence to the Committee in June this year, Green told the Committee that he would “sort out” the pension scheme deficit. However, Field said that there is “no concrete proposal on the table at this time”.

The scheme had a £43m surplus in 2000, when Green purchased the retailer, but by the time BHS went into liquidation, under the ownership of Dominic Chappell, the scheme had a deficit £571m, which Field believes could now be at £600m.

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