Want to break the law? No problem – if you can pay off the victims afterwards

P&O knew it should have consulted with unions before sacking 800 workers, but chose not to. In an appearance before a parliamentary committee yesterday, chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite told MPs: “There is absolutely no doubt that we were required to consult with the unions. We chose not to do that.” Defending the decision, he argued that the company had decided to “compensate everyone in full” rather than comply with employment law. It seems the chief exec is taking the Bullingdon Club approach: show complete disregard for the law and simply pay off complainants after the fact.

Grant Shapps described the comments this morning as “brazen and breathtaking” and said Hebblethwaite showed “incredible arrogance”, adding: “I cannot believe that he can stay in that role.” David Lammy agreed with the Transport Secretary, branding the situation an “outrage” and calling for the chief exec to step down. He added that Shapps will have to resign if he is found to have lied about having prior knowledge of the redundancies. (Hebblethwaite told the committee that the Transport Secretary was informed of P&O’s plan in a meeting in Dubai on November 27th.) Labour’s Louise Haigh has written for LabourList on what she called “the most shameful episode in labour relations in a generation”. The Shadow Transport Secretary told readers: “This scandal is the cruel consequence of the assault on workers’ rights that has taken place during a decade of Conservative government. We must make it a turning point.”

The verdict on the Spring Statement is in. But, despite having served up an offering roundly condemned by policy wonks and the press alike, YouGov polling for The Times this morning suggests the lacklustre announcements have not translated into a marked shift in public opinion. Research from the pollster on Wednesday morning reported a one-point lead for Labour on 36%, down three points on last week, with the Tories up two on 35%. After delivering the statement aimed at spuriously depicting Rishi Sunak as a tax-cutting Chancellor rather than addressing the worst fall in living standards in generations, Labour’s poll lead climbed to two points with the party on 37% and the Tories unchanged on 35%.

Polling today has also found that both of the main parties stand to gain from promising to overhaul council tax ahead of the next general election. JL Partners research for the ‘Fairer Share’ campaign found that Labour could gain as many as 52 seats, including 43 in the so-called ‘Red Wall’ – if they backed a proportional property tax based on the current value of properties rather than 1991 levels. The Tories could gain as many as 60. Labour MP Grahame Morris wrote for LabourList last year last year arguing that the party should kill off council tax to boost its electoral offer and replace it with a system of proportional property tax. As councils of all political stripes raise council tax in the face of continued cuts to funding from central government, and as the cost-of-living crisis escalates, just how regressive and arbitrary the tax is will only come into sharper focus.