‘Sell one of your two yachts!’ – Outrage as Billionaire Sir Philip Green Asks For Taxpayer Help To Pay Emergency Wages To 14,500 Workers He Has Furloughed

Sir Philip Green provoked outrage today as he demanded emergency taxpayer help to pay the wages of 14,500 workers he has furloughed during the coronavirus lockdown. 

Furious Twitter users suggested the disgraced businessman should sell one of his two yachts, which include the £122m Lionheart, £63.5m Lioness V and £9.3m Lionchase, or use some of his estimated £1.8billion fortune rather than relying solely on the taxpayer.

Struggling Arcadia is owned by Sir Philip’s wife, Tina, whose residency in Monaco means she does not pay UK tax on profits including the £1.2bn dividend she famously banked in 2005 in one of the biggest pay checks in British history.

The taxpayer now faces a huge bill to cover wages for all Arcadia store staff of up to £2,500 per month, prompting one Twitter user to rage: ‘Tell him to sell off one of his yachts. That will bring him in a bob or two. The tight-fisted chancer.’

Other household businesses that are furloughing staff include McDonalds, British Airways and Primark. It comes as the number of UK coronavirus deaths reached 2,921 as the country remains in lockdown with the economy at a standstill.

Arcadia’s CEO Ian Grabiner confirmed yesterday that all 14,000 out of its 16,000 staff had been furloughed, with online operations continuing and head office staff continuing to work until April 5.

Mr Grabiner said he would not receive a salary or any benefits until further notice, adding: ‘We look forward to opening our store doors again as soon as it is safe to do so and welcoming back our colleagues and customers.’

Nonetheless, Sir Philip’s bid for taxpayer help sparked anger on social media today, with one Twitter user writing: ‘There are brass necks and then there’s Philip Green…’

Tearlach Wilson said: ‘Turning out to be the same as after the financial crash where the wealthy escaped having to endure 10 years of austerity while the lesser paid suffered from it, the same less paid the country are now relying during this virus hell.’

Others pointed out that while Universal Credit applications were being refused for people with more than £16,000 in savings the same rule did not apply for billionaires like Sir Philip.

John Spiers said: ‘Billionaire Philip Green asks government to pay 14,500 employees out of emergency wage scheme. WTF?

‘Normal people are being told they can’t get government support until they’ve ‘used up their savings’ … how about he uses up his billion pounds?’

Another wrote: ‘Philip Green asks for taxpayer support to prop up #Arcadia . Nah. State Benefits are means tested, right? Claimants need to spend their savings before they get anything. Sell some assets like your boat.’

And a third noted: ‘People have to use up their savings before they get benefits. The mega-rich should have to use up their ‘savings’ before their companies receive Government help.’

Sir Philip has faced repeated calls to lose his knighthood over his involvement in a string of controversies.

Last year, a member of the House of Lords claimed the businessman had ‘hundreds’ of grievance claims against him, including that he  grabbed women’s breasts and slapped their bottoms.

The allegations were revealed by Lord Hain, who last year used the cloak of parliamentary privilege to identify the Topshop boss as the person behind a legal injunction preventing the Daily Telegraph from publishing allegations of sexual harassment and racial abuse.

The claims, which Sir Philip ‘categorically and wholly denied’, included allegations that the retail tycoon dragged a woman around in a headlock and smashed a male employee’s mobile phone.

It was also claimed that he mocked a male employee’s dreadlocks and referred to him ‘throwing spears in the jungle’.

Sir Philip also faced allegations that he groped a female executive, paying her more than £1million to stay quiet.

The news comes despite some Topshop employees saying two weeks’ ago that they had been laid off after all 300 stores were closed before the government announced its furloughing scheme.

Arcadia Group was experiencing financial troubles even before coronavirus hit, with the company forced to close 23 stores at a loss of hundreds of jobs.

Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge branches were among those earmarked for closure, as well as the company’s Outfit, Wallis and Evans stores.

Amazon Bans Sale Of N95 And Surgical Masks To General Public – Where Can I Buy N95 Masks Now?

Amazon has banned the sale of N95 and surgical masks to the general public, claiming it would restrict sales to hospitals and government organizations dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ban took effect April 1, according to Recode, after the company said in a forum for Amazon sellers that the ban includes “facial shields, surgical gowns, surgical gloves, and large-volume sanitizers.”

Hospitals and governments can qualify to purchase said items by filling out a form, while Amazon will be eliminating the commission it usually charges sellers in order “to encourage our selling partners to make additional inventory of these products available at competitive prices to these customers with the greatest need.”

The move is the latest drastic change Amazon has made to its business practices amid the global pandemic that has upended billions of lives and economies across the globe. Amazon has become a lifeline to essential goods during this time for millions of customers ordered to stay at home and those fearful of shopping in stores during the crisis.

In mid-March, faced with merchandise shortages in the United States and Europe due to the pandemic, Amazon instituted sweeping changes on which products it will store and ship from its warehouses, in a move it said was aimed at keeping essential items in stock and speeding up orders. –Recode

Two weeks ago, the Seattle-based e-retailer said that it would be “temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so that we can more quickly receive, restock and deliver these products to customers,” meaning it will no longer accept new shipments to warehouses for discretionary items through at least April 5.

Where Can I Buy N95 Masks?

With Pharmacies, Walmart and nearly all other physical stores out of stock, Amazon out of the game and ebay selling mostly gas masks from China, there’s not much place left to buy N95 masks to protect yourself in th Covid-19 crisis.

As you may already know, the Darknet is selling pretty much everything that is hard to get by in stores or completely illegal. So even if you come by to find a shady shop or entity selling overpriced masks, you never know if they really are what they are advertised (N95 standard) and work and you also never know if they will ever arrive. However, there are still some online shops that are selling the very last N95 masks, one of them being a small company called Amazyble.com.