Government knew of ‘game plan’ for P&O Ferries mass redundancies, says Labour

‘There is no excuse for what we saw last Thursday,’ said the transport secretary, Grant Shapps

Dry land: Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC (left) at the demonstration with politicians and union officials (Simon Calder)

The government knew of the “game plan” for P&O Ferries mass firing of 800 seafarers ahead of the firm’s announcement of a job cull – but did nothing to stop it, the shadow transport secretary has claimed.

On Saturday, Labour MP Louise Haigh claimed to have a copy of a government memo about P&O Ferries’ intentions that, she said, was widely shared by ministers and seen by No 10.

Ms Haigh was opening an Opposition Day motion in the Commons on the ferry firm’s behaviour, which has been widely condemned.

Labour is calling for the immediate reinstatement of the seafarers.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said that he heard at 8.30pm on Wednesday that P&O Ferries was intending to make redundancies.

He said that in previous rounds of redundancies, which had taken place in 2020 and 2021, the company had consulted with the workers, and that it was reasonable to assume the same would happen on this occasion. Instead, he said: “It’s been handled by the company absolutely disastrously.”

Mr Shapps said the decision was commercially sensitive and therefore there was a limit to what ministers could say.

The transport secretary criticised the non-disclosure agreement that workers had to sign if they were to secure the proposed redundancy terms, as well as the manner in which some workers learnt of their fate, via a pre-recorded video link.

“There is no excuse for what we saw last Thursday,” he said.

Mr Shapps also said that he would call on P&O Ferries to change the names of vessels including Spirit of Britain and Pride of Kent if they did not have British crew on board.

“It would be completely inappropriate,” he said.

He said the government is examining contracts it holds with P&O Ferries and DP World, the parent company.

The transport secretary also said that criminal charges could be brought against P&O Ferries’ management if they were found to have broken employment law.

His colleague, the Conservative MP for South Thanet, Craig Mackinlay, said: “What on earth were the board of P&O and DP World thinking of? Did they not realise the reputational damage that this measure would take?”

The Kent MP told the Commons that he would never use the ferry firm again – adding: “I would like to see that P&O Ferries go down the toilet and that a new carrier comes out of the woodwork that is prepared to deal with local people properly.”

Earlier, the general secretary of the TUC, Frances O’Grady, led chants of “Seize the ships” at a demonstration outside Parliament.

Ms O’Grady said: “If we let P&O get away with this, then every single worker in this country knows they can be coming for us next.

“So we will not let them get away with this.

“Migrant workers are not the enemy. Bad bosses are.”

Other speakers at the demonstration included the former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and the current deputy leader, Angela Rayner.