Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of delivering only “half-arsed bluster and waffle” on workers’ rights following the P&O Ferries scandal.
The Labour leader hit out at Mr Johnson’s failure to stop the mass sacking of 800 seafarers, fired without warned by the ferry giant last week, saying the PM “didn’t lift a finger”.
Sir Keir also said the PM was “all mouth no trousers” when it came to the practise of fire and rehire, which involves making workers redundant before giving them their jobs back on worse terms.
He highlighted that Mr Johnson ordered Tory MPs to abstain on a Labour motion to ban fire and rehire, adding sacked P&O workers did not want new jobs but their old jobs back.
Sir Keir said: “They don’t want a prime minister hoisting the white flag, they want him to fight for their livelihoods – 82,000 seafarers in this country.”
The Labour leader said others workers he had spoken to are worried they could be next if P&O is allowed to “get away with it”, adding: “Why does the prime minister think that they will take a crumb of comfort from his half-arsed bluster and waffle today?”
Responding, Mr Johnson said the firm “aren’t going to get away with it” and told the Commons: “The most notable practitioners of fire and rehire are of course the Labour Party themselves.”
The prime minister also said it appeared P&O Ferries had “broken the law” by sacking 800 workers without notice – vowing that the government would “take them to court”.
“It looks to me as though the company has broken the law,” the prime minister told the Commons at PMQs. “We will be taking action therefore, and we will be encouraging workers to take action.”
Mr Johnson said P&O Ferries had a duty to notify the government about the sackings 45 days before the move – promising that the firm “aren’t going to get away with it”.
The PM’s pledge of legal action comes as it emerged that the ferry company felt able to sack 800 staff without warning because of a law change brought in by former minister Chris Grayling.
The ex-transport secretary quietly amended legislation in 2018 meant to protect workers, to create an exemption where there are mass redundancies on ships registered overseas.
The company’s chief executive has issued an apology for the impact of sacking staff without notice – but insisted the firm had acted legally.
Peter Hebblethwaite said he understood the “anger and shock” about the loss of jobs, but highlighted the apparent loophole in a letter to business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
“The very clear statutory obligation in the particular circumstances that applied was for each company to notify the competent authority of the state where the vessel is registered,” he wrote.
Kevin Barnett, head of employment at marine law specialists Lester Aldridge LLP, said that Mr Grayling’s 2018 amendment meant that it was “incorrect” for the government to threaten the ferry company over notification rules.
But Mr Johnson said the government would not “sit by” over the mass sackings – and said that under section 194 of the Trade Unions and Labour Relations Act of 1992 it appeared the ferry giant had broken the law.
He told the Commons: “We are taking legal action against the company concerned – that is the right thing to do because it seems to me they have broken the law … We’ll take them to court. We’ll defend the rights of British workers.”
