MPs complete remaining stages of the Seafarer’s Wages Bill, prompted by P&O Ferries dismissal controversy

In a House of Commons debate today, MPs have completed the remaining stages of the Seafarer’s Wages Bill. The bill aims to ensure that minimum wage legislation applies to seafarers operating from UK ports.

Closing the debate for the Labour party, shadow transport secretary Louis Haigh said: “This House was agreed last March that the action taken by P&O Ferries was a national scandal, as the minister has said. 800 British workers sacked with no notice. It was the reality of a business model that has been allowed to prevail for far too long on our seas. A business model predicated and dependent upon exploitation”.