P&O Ferries and Employment Rights

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:58 pm on 21 March 2022.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Barry Gardiner Barry Gardiner Labour, Brent North 5:58, 21 March 2022

The first thing I want to do is express my solidarity with the 800 seafarers and their families, and pay tribute to the RMT and Nautilus for the swift support that they gave their members, along with the whole of the TUC.

I am pleased that Ministers and Tory Members have said how disgraceful P&O’s behaviour has been, but they have said how unacceptable such practices are on previous occasions. It appears today, from both their words and their body language, that they are embarrassed. Maybe somebody has been saying “Shame on you”. It is almost as if it is more about justifying this disgusting treatment of summarily firing the workforce and justifying why they did not outlaw it five months ago when they had that opportunity.