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Lord Hain made the claim during a session of the House of Lords on Thursday. He said: “Having been contacted by someone intimately involved in the case of a powerful businessman using non-disclosure agreements and substantial payments to conceal the truth about serious and repeated sexual harassment, racist abuse and bullying which is compulsively continuing. “I feel it is my duty under Parliamentary privilege to name Philip Green as the individual in question given that the media have been subject to an injunction preventing publication of the full details of the story which is clearly in the public interest.” Sir Philip Green has said he "categorically and wholly" denies allegations of "unlawful sexual or racist behaviour". In a statement after he was named in Parliament as the businessman behind an injunction against the Daily Telegraph, Sir Philip Green said: "I am not commenting on anything that has happened in court or was said in Parliament today. "To the extent that it is suggested that I have been guilty of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour, I categorically and wholly deny these allegations.

Lord Hain used his Parliamentary privilege to make the claim

"Arcadia and I take accusations and grievances from employees very seriously and in the event that one is raised, it is thoroughly investigated. "Arcadia employs more than 20,000 people and in common with many large businesses sometimes receives formal complaints from employees. "In some cases these are settled with the agreement of all parties and their legal advisers. These settlements are confidential so I cannot comment further on them." On Wednesday Theresa May pledged to hasten measures to improve regulation around so-called gagging clauses in response to questions about the case. The Prime Minister said some employers were using non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) "unethically" as she criticised "abhorrent" sexual harassment in the workplace. Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Labour MP Jess Phillips asked Mrs May to comment on the use of NDAs to "silence" accusers, adding: "It seems that our laws allow rich and powerful men to pretty much do whatever they want as long as they can pay to keep it quiet." The Prime Minister said she would bring forward consultation measures to improve regulation and make it "absolutely explicit" when the contracts cannot be enforced. Mrs May's official spokesman later said that NDAs "should never be used to cover up criminal activity", adding that details of the work started earlier this year would be announced "imminently".

Philip Green has "categorically and wholly" denied the allegations