UK economy at risk of ‘hard landing’; MPs quiz Asda co-owner – as it happened

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MPs have heard that the complicated complex ownership structures used by private equity allow them to evade accountability, and stop unions asking asking questions about how business is being done.

Nadine Houghton, national officer at GMB union, tells the Business and Trade committee that in the case of Asda, they have made formal financial disclosure requests" asking about the gap in its operating costs, and around where dividends are being declared.

That's just about creating a structure that prevents working people from understanding what's happening in their employer, and their union being able to do their job and represent those members.

Cashing in in a very big way because private equity is a wonderful reward system.

Their fees are phenomenal, both direct and indirect. They have reaped a very big harvest.

What you will see is much poorer performance figures coming out of the industry.

I think the going will be tougher for the institutional investors who back them as well as for the fund managers.