HARLOW MP Robert Halfon rose on the floor of the House of Commons to ask a question regarding staff who work at Topshop.

Mr Halfon asked: “In Harlow, we have an excellent Topshop that has done very well, and clearly the staff are worried about their pensions and their jobs.

“Surely, the time has come for legislation to stop these robber barons who own these big companies, who plunder the assets, with the taxpayer left to foot the bill and anxious employees losing their jobs and pensions. We should make sure that we seize the assets of those big vulture capitalists and get the money that the hard-working employees deserve.”

Paul Scully, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Business said: “My right hon. Friend raises some important points. There is already legislation and regulation in place to look at this.

“That is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has written to the administrators to make sure that they can expedite the report looking at directors’ behaviour, not just in the immediate weeks but looking back to see if anything untoward has happened”.