The shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, has said P&O’s sacking tactics are ‘beneath contempt – the action of thugs’.
The leading UK ferry operator has sacked 800 British crew across its entire fleet after stopping all its sailings on Thursday. Unions called on the government to halt the ‘scandalous betrayal’, with P&O planning to use lower-paid agency staff to operate its ships.
Transport minister Robert Courts told the House of Commons he would be in contact with trade unions and the Department of Work and Pensions to discuss available support for workers