First came the heavy-handed sacking of 800 workers via Zoom. Then followed the unnerving performance of P&O chief exec Peter Hebblethwaite in front of a parliamentary select committee. The P&O saga has been a total mishap. Now, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has vowed to change the laws and make it illegal to pay employees below minimum wage in international waters for all ferry companies operating from UK ports. P&O sacked its seafarers to replace them with agency workers that could be paid as little as 5.15 per hour, by Hebblethwaite’s own admission.
Many have applauded Shapps’ plans to close this loophole – and they’re right to. If companies are able to cut corners, they will do so in an attempt to keep costs down. It is up to governments to bring in legal change, rather than businesses to anticipate it, even if it is in their interests to continually look to the future. But we shouldn’t ignore the fact it comes only after a scandal and the accompanying brouhaha. This has always been the problem with reactive policymaking, and one that has persistently plagued this government. Legislating only in the wake of a bad outcome is no way of running a country; the law is not there to fix things, but to deter and avoid episodes like this from happening in the first place.
Ministers are worried if the law is not changed, P&O’s decision will cause a domino effect, with other companies following suit to stay competitive. But P&O’s behaviour can be explained...
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