P&O Ferries under pressure to return furlough cash

P&O Ferries has been urged to hand back the money it received to furlough staff during the coronavirus pandemic.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the firm should repay the £11m in government money it had received.

The ferry firm sparked outrage after sacking almost 800 seafarers and replacing them with cheaper agency workers paid below the minimum wage.

Mr Shapps' comments came as P&O Ferries resumed cross-Channel sailings for the first time since the sackings.

On Tuesday, the Spirit Of Britain was the first P&O vessel to resume sailings on the Dover-Calais route, after being detained for nearly a fortnight by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency over safety concerns.

The vessel was carrying freight customers only, with passenger services expected to start again early next week.

It is the only P&O ship back in service on the Dover to Calais route, with three others still waiting to pass inspections.

It came after another P&O ship spent hours adrift without power in the Irish Sea.

P&O said the incident was caused by a "temporary mechanical issue" that had been resolved.

The ship - which will now be visited by maritime inspectors - returned to port "under its own propulsion, with local tugs on standby," a spokesperson added.

Mr Shapps also reiterated his call for P&O Ferries boss Peter Hebblethwaite to resign saying his position was "completely unsustainable".

"He will have to go," he added.

Mr Shapps also said said the government will introduce new legislation aimed at forcing ferry firms which use UK ports to pay the UK minimum wage.

The new P&O Ferries crew are paid an average of just £5.50 per hour. This is below the UK's national minimum wage of £9.50 per hour, but in line with international maritime law.

In response to criticism from Mr Shapps, a spokesman for P&O Ferries said: "The actions our company took on 17 March, while unpopular, saved 2,200 jobs and a British company."

The spokesman called on the government to have a "constructive dialogue" about the "future" after two "very difficult years for business".

"Calls for our chief executive to go need to stop," the spokesman added.

"Despite the attempts from some parties to undermine our business by creating false rumours and uninformed commentary, our morale is high and our spirit as a company is strong."

P&O Ferries also said it will be back to full service "shortly" and will return to commercial viability "soon".

Responding to Grant Shapps's comments, National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) general secretary Mick Lynch, said Mr Shapps was "in fact, trying to rehabilitate the embattled ferry company".

"The transport secretary is avoiding his responsibilities by not impounding P&O vessels, reinstating staff on union contracts and getting the government to take over the running of the company".

"Only then will be able to have safely staffed vessels with decent pay and conditions which the public can feel confident in using," Mr Lynch added.

On Monday, Pat Rafferty, Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) president, said the way the seafarers were sacked was "inhumane".

"Peter Hebblethwaite should be struck off the directors register and put behind bars," Mr Rafferty told an annual conference in Aberdeen.

"That would send a clear message to employers, act irresponsibly towards workers and face the possibility that you will be jailed."

The BBC has contacted P&O Ferries for a response.

Mr Hebblethwaite previously said he had not taken a cut to his £325,000 salary, after criticism for replacing his staff with agency workers who receive less than minimum wage.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has decided to request a further inspection of the European Causeway following its mechanical failure at sea.