P&O scandal underlines need for an employment bill in Queen’s speech

Will we be talking about an employment bill this week? I wouldn’t hold your breath. Waiting for this long-promised piece of legislation has been like waiting for a cold day in Death Valley in the middle of the climate crisis.

There has been plenty of talk about it, there is wide agreement on the need for it, we’ve heard numerous debates about what should be in in. It has also repeatedly been promised. But when it comes time for the Queen’s speech to be delivered, it looks set to be omitted from the text. Again.

The proposed bill has become parliament’s will-o’-the-wisp. Even after the P&O Ferries debacle.

You would have thought that if anything could serve as a catalyst for movement it would be that.

Staff were sacked and turfed off their ships by balaclava-clad security guards. The entire fleet was then left stuck in port while replacements were brought in on less than the minimum wage. The legal requirement to consult with workers before redundancy events was ignored.

The firm’s Dr Evil, CEO Peter Hebblethwaite, then blithely admitted to breaking the law before a parliamentary committee. Despite widespread calls for him to resign, he remains in post to this day.

Of course he does. Hebblethwaite will have been aware that the consequences to him and company for thumbing their noses at this particular piece of law were likely to amount to less than a corporate parking ticket. And so it has proved.

A law that can be broken with so little consequence is no law at all. Yet all the reports indicate that there will be no move to strengthen it in the next session of parliament.

The delay is symbolic of a governing party with a split personality. The Tories managed to make big gains in Labour’s northern red wall to secure their majority at the last general election, replacing Labour as the “party of the working class” if the psephologists are to be believed. But the government still can’t quite bring itself to do anything for them that might seal the deal.

In its heart of hearts, the Conservative Party still want to be the party of the bosses and the asset owners. Even though some of those bosses are a good deal more progressive than the likes of the repellent Hebblethwaite. And asset owners like Legal & General have signed a motion calling for Sainsbury’s to seek accreditation with the living wage campaign. And the CBI has spoken out against a race to the bottom in terms of employment conditions. And the exchequer might benefit from better employment terms.

That is what the TUC says this morning, at any rate. It has released research showing that low-paid self-employment is costing the exchequer £9.7bn each year with zero hours contracts throwing another £614m down the toilet.

The reason? People stuck in those type of arrangements pay less tax, less national insurance, and are more reliant on top-up payments from the state than their more fortunate peers.

The Tory conversion to higher minimum wages was in part driven by a recognition that the state shouldn’t be subsidising poverty pay, the bill for which had risen to astronomical levels.

But its continuing indulgence of the gig economy, and of poorly paid insecure work, has left the job half done.

Troublingly, the report suggests that a one per cent rise in insecure work – as a proportion of the wider UK workforce – would wipe out nearly £1bn in tax receipts.

That isn’t inconceivable as the economy starts to hit the buffers. The Bank of England expects that its current woes will start to have an impact on the previously robust labour market next year.

This explains why Hebblethwaite’s behaviour is so concerning. He basically gave the green light to others in a similar position to P&O Ferries. Less aggressive “fire and rehire” tactics remain rather common, and even though they are usually carried out legally, the net result is the same.

In the absence of action, there will be more of this.

Ministers professed outrage at the treatment of P&O workers. They, and Tory MPs, have also voiced concern over those caught up in lesser scandals. Other bosses have felt the sharp edge of their tongues.

Eventually, however, people are going to start to ask why there is no action to match their words, why these controversies continue to emerge and why the government continues to break its promise to bring forward a bill that might address them.