the times | Friday March 18 2022 15News
Quango boss
told to resign
from board
Louisa Clarence-Smith
Dominic O’ConnellA British quango boss who oversees a
publicly owned company responsible
for “excellence in corporate govern-
ance” is facing scrutiny for his role on
the board of the Dubai business con-
trolling the fate of P&O ferry workers.
Mark Russell, 61, has been urged to
resign from his £145,000-a-year role as
a non-executive director of DP World
over the sacking of 800 staff.
Russell is vice-chairman of UK Gov-
ernment Investments, an arms-length
body of the Treasury which advises on
all government corporate finance
matters and manages government cor-
porate assets, including Channel 4, the
Post Office, National Highways and its
stake in NatWest Group. He also earns
£150,000 a year for a three-day-a-week
non-executive role overseeing govern-
ment military procurement as chair-
man of Defence Equipment & Support.
Siobhain McDonagh, a Labour
member of the Treasury select
committee, urged Russell to “resign
without notice” from DP World’s board
over the treatment of P&O workers.
Mark Hendrick, a Labour MP, said:
“The government should be speaking
to Mark Russell as an employee of one
of the government quangos with regard
to his involvement in signing this off
because it certainly is a disgrace that
foreign workers can just be brought in
and British workers sacked at a mo-
ment’s notice.”
DP World, the owner of P&O Ferries,
is a port and cargo corporation owned
by the Dubai government that operates
in about 70 countries. It is run by Sultan
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, a prominent Du-
bai businessman connected to the
state’s ruling family.
The Duke and Duchess of Cam-
bridge made an official visit to Dubai
last month during which they met
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum,
chairman of DP World, and Sulayem.
Russell, UK Government Invest-
ments, DP World and the Treasury did
not respond to requests for comment.
P&O Ferries said: “The P&O Ferries
board have independent authority to
act in the best interest of the business.
The P&O Ferries board duly informed
the DP World board of its decision.”P&O ferries at Dover
after Stephen Nee, a
spokesman for the
company, above, told
workers it was their
last day. Security
staff removed
employees, some of
whom staged a
protest at Dover. The
captain and crew of
the Pride of Hull
refused to leaveNews
GARETH FULLER/PA; STEVE FINN FOR THE TIMESrefuses to let police on ferry
their jobs stood on the road with
banners and flags saying “Stop the P&O
Jobs carve up”. A lorry driver trying to
enter the port began shouting and
beeping at those in the road, before
being told “we’re not moving”.
Drivers on both sides of the Channel
have reported major backlogs of vehi-
cles waiting for ferries with disruption
expected to last more than a week.
A driver in Calais said: “More than
anything I’m frustrated at the fact no-
body from P&O was there to help and
advise. I’ve never had such shoddy ser-
vice from anybody.”
The driver, who asked to remain ano-
nymous, said he had been able to re-
book with DFDS. “I’ve had to exit the
port and go through the entire process
again, not to mention paying for
another ticket at a higher price. I would
have appreciated somebody at least
telling us what to do,” he said.
P&O was accused of using security
staff wearing balaclavas to handcuff
crew members and march them off
their ships after the mass sacking.
Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadowis British seafarers gone as we’re too ex-
pensive as far as they’re concerned and
stand up for our rights.”
A 54-year-old crew member who has
worked in ferry engine rooms since the
1980s said: “It was just a short message
this morning saying you’ve all lost a job,
basically — all this service for nothing.”
Mick Lynch, the general secretary of
the RMT union, said: “Security guards
at Dover are seeking to board ships with
handcuffs to remove crew so they can
be replaced with cheaper labour. We
are calling for the government to take
action to stop what is fast turning into
one of the most shameful acts in the his-
tory of British industrial relations.”
Dame Diana Johnson, the Labour
MP for Hull North, told the House of
Commons: “Agency staff, mainly from
overseas, are in buses on the quayside
with a security firm, hired by DP World,
wearing balaclavas and taking British
crew off these ships. This is shameful
and it goes against all norms of fair and
reasonable behaviour.”
P&O and the security company In-
terforce were contacted for comment.transport secretary, said: “There are
images circulating of what we are told
are handcuff-trained security, some
wearing balaclavas, marching British
crew off their ships. This is not a corpo-
rate restructure, it’s not the way we go
about business in this country. It is be-
neath contempt. The action of thugs.”
About 800 staff received an email at
10.30am inviting them to a Microsoft
Teams meeting for an “important em-
ployee announcement”. Stephen Nee,
the head of employer relations,
announced the job losses during a four-
minute call which started at 11.10am.
The company is owned by DP World,
which is state-owned in Dubai.
Ships’ officers have been told they
would receive enhanced redundancies
and generous pay for a year while train-
ing new crew with a £30,000 pay-off at
the end. Many of the new crew were un-
derstood to come from the Philippines.
One former crew member, in his
twenties and based at Dover, said:
“Within about a minute and a half of
being on [the staff briefing], they told us
we were being sacked. What they wantQ&A
What has P&O
announced?
P&O Ferries has fired
800 of its seafaring
staff without notice and
suspended all
operations.Can it do that?
A leading law firm said
those dismissed “will
certainly have claims
for unfair dismissal”.
Rustom Tata, head of
the employment group
at DMH Stallard, said:
“While the current law
does allow ‘fire and
rehire’, that is usually in
relation to the same
employees. The issue
here is that current staff
seem to be set to be
replaced with a number
of agency staff. That is
effectively seeking toavoid having to
renegotiate terms with
staff and their
representatives.”Who will replace the
workers?
The Times understands
the company, using an
agency, has lined up an
entirely new workforce.
Buses with new workers
on board were parked
at the port of Hull.Should I still travel to
Dover?
Only travel if essential.
For those who must sail
from Dover, P&O Ferries
has said people can
arrive for their booked
time. They will be given
an “inter availability”
voucher that allows
them to travel on a
service operated by
P&O’s rival, DFDS. For
other routes, the
company is working
on arranging travelwith alternative
operators.Who owns P&O?
It is owned by DP World,
based in Dubai and
ultimately owned by the
Dubai government. It
reported record
revenue of $10.78 billion
last year and profit of
$1.35 billion.What has the
government said?
The Times understands
that Grant Shapps, the
transport secretary, was
made aware of the
news only minutes
before he appeared for
questions in the
Commons yesterday.
Downing Street has
condemned P&O.Have P&O cruises been
cancelled?
No. P&O Cruises is
owned by a different
company.