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Browneâ€™s tragic lie

Robert Peston
1 May 07, 05:45 PM

Only two years ago, Lord Browne was the most feted chief executive of any British company.

Now he has had to his 41 year career at BP.

And the main reason for his resignation appears to be his embarrassment that he lied to the courts when attempting to obtain an injunction to prevent publication by the of an interview with his former boyfriend, Jeff Chevalier.

Lord Browne told the court that he had met Mr Chevalier in Battersea Park in London.

In fact they had met on a male escort website.

The judge also pointed out that Lord Browne had attempted to â€œtrashâ€ Mr Chevalier's credibility by painting him as a liar, unstable, and adversely affected by dependence on alcohol and illegal drugs â€“ but then could not furnish evidence, other than the claim of his butler that his wine stocks were diminishing.

The painful irony for Lord Browne is that BP has investigated Mr Chevalier's claim that he misused company resources and property and has dismissed them.

So Lord Browne has been hoist on the petard of how he tried to block Mr Chevalier's interview â€“ though not by the substance of what Mr Chevalier claimed in that interview.

It's a personal tragedy for Lord Browne â€“ and one that will have financial ramifications for him.

He is surrendering up to Â£15m in remuneration due to his decision to quit the company he loves.

Green's big bet

Robert Peston
1 May 07, 10:17 AM

It was mayhem in Topshop last night for the launch of Kate Moss's new line. Female shoppers were frantically emptying racks and trying to sneak more than the maximum-permitted five-items-per-customer past surprisingly polite security staff.

Kate Moss, giggling in a long red dress stamped with her new retail brand, watched from behind a pillar in a state of some considerable nervous excitement. This was an image of our times.

So far it's been a great commercial success for Sir Philip Green, the billionaire owner of the totemic fashion chain. Even before the 8pm unveiling, sales at the Oxford Circus flagship store were up more than 20% on the same period last year, which he puts down in part to the buzz created by all the Moss publicity.

Is it sustainable? Green tells me that he is convinced that it is. An autumn range is planned and Moss is already talking to him about next spring's collection. Also he believes she'll travel well: the line will be sold in more then 20 countries, including the US (at Barneys).

Moss doesn't actually design the kit. But she says yea or nay to everything that bears her moniker. And the real designers told me last night that she has an exceptional eye (which they would of course say, but I am minded to believe them). They say she makes a contribution well beyond the power of her name.

What could go wrong? Well, the collection might not live up to all those expectations. Or the particularly excitable shoppers currently enamoured of Miss Moss might simply become bored with her. And then there's the reputational risk for her and for Green: neither would wish to see a repeat of the kind of media attention that was sparked in 2005 when she was photographed in close proximity to a Class A drug.

But, for now, Green is as ebullient as I've seen him since he trousered his Â£1.2bn dividend a couple of years ago. The Green-Moss partnership is certainly an odd one, but on the evidence of last night they are both committed to it.