Sir Philip Green has been named as the businessman at the centre of a sexual harassment scandal, in a case that has been described as a "British #MeToo” moment.

Former Commons leader Lord Peter Hain revealed the name under parliamentary privilege while speaking in the House of Lords, saying it was his “duty”.

The fashion tycoon had taken out a gagging order to stop the media reporting claims he bullied and sexually harassed staff.

But Lord Hain said: “As 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’s my duty under parliamentary privilege to name Philip Green as the individual in question.”

Lord Hain added that he felt impelled to identify Sir Philip “given that the media have been subject to an injunction preventing publication of the full details of this story which is clearly in the public interest”.

Sir Philip went to court to prevent the media from reporting the allegations, and on Tuesday the Appeal Court ruled in his favour.