P&O Ferries CEO faces MPs

In a shock confession, Peter Hebblethwaite, chief executive of P&O Ferries, has admitted that the decision to sack 800 workers without consultation broke the law.

Appearing before a committee of MPs in the House of Commons, Hebblethwaite said there was “absolutely no doubt” the law had been broken when staff were fired to be replaced by agency staff earning less than minimum wage.

“There’s absolutely no doubt that we were required to consult with the unions. We chose not to do that,” he said.

Responding on Twitter, the business committee’s chair, Darren Jones, called for Hebblethwaite to be “fined, struck off and prosecuted”.

“I’m amazed that the P&O CEO came to Parliament today, confirmed he wilfully broke the law, decided to pay the sacked workers but make them sign gagging clauses and that he would do it all again,” Jones said.

A day later transport secretary Grant Shapps added to resignation calls. “I think he should go,” he told BBC Breakfast.

Shareholders and human rights

Shareholders are missing from the EU’s discussion of human rights due diligence, according to an academic.

Marleen Och, a researcher at the Jan Ronse Institute for Company and Financial Law, says that newly published proposals for making human rights and sustainability due diligence mandatory for companies inside the EU is “completely silent” on the role of shareholders. And this despite shareholders seeing themselves as the “new sustainability watchdogs”.

“The EU,” says Och, “should not dismiss the influence those investors can have and should therefore decide for itself in which directions and through which channels it prefers for shareholders to exercise their power, by keeping discussion on shareholder engagement and its role in a sustainable European economy alive.”

Batten down the cyber hatches

As the war in Ukraine intensifies there have been fresh warning to organisations to prepare for cyber attacks. US president Joe Biden highlighted the risk, but his alarm bell was repeated by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

A statement from the NCSC says it supports president Biden’s call increased cyber security vigilance. “In heightened periods of international tension all organisations should be vigilant to cyber risks and for several months the NCSC has been advising organisations to bolster there cyber security.”

It adds: “While the NCSC are unaware of specific, targeted threats to the UK resulting from Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, we recommend organisations follow this advice as a priority.”

Diversity gives firms ‘competitive edge’

Diversity remains a key issue in business. The Institute of Directors has launched a commission led by Lord Shinkwin to examine barriers to “recruitment, retention and progression” caused by ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and disability.

The commission aims to produce a white paper providing guidance on changes for business leadership alongside policy recommendations.

“It is too easy,” says Lord Shinkwin, “for politicians like me to dismiss diversity and inclusion as woke when actually every successful business knows that diversity is not just a good thing; it gives them that competitive edge.”