Prince William is facing pressure to intervene on the P&O scandal after the ferry company brutally sacked 800 workers on the spot to replace them with cheaper labour.
It has emerged that the firm’s owner, DP World, is a backer of the royal’s global environmental prize.
Some believe the Duke of Cambridge should use his influence to help staff get their jobs back as mass protests take place across ports today.
Politicians of all parties and trade unions condemned the decision to sack staff with no notice as ‘callous’ and ‘disgraceful’.
The government has pledged to investigate whether the move was legal amid widespread outrage.
Liberal Democrat former minister Norman Baker believes, Prince William should also stage and intervention as the situation is an ’embarrassment’ to him.
William met Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman and chief executive of DP World, during a visit to Dubai last month and the company has donated £1 million to his Earthshot Prize.
Mr Baker said: ‘Prince William did not create this situation but it’s an embarrassment to him and he can’t simply ignore it.
‘In my view he needs to use his personal connections with his friend, the chief executive, to get P&O to change policy on this and to reverse what they’ve done.
‘If he can’t do that then he should consider cutting all links with DP World. It’s not a great look for Prince William to be associated with such a company.
‘If he can’t get P&O to change policy then the £1 million should be allocated on a pro rata basis – £1,250 – to all the people who have been sacked.’
During his day-long visit to the Middle East, William toured Dubai Expo and the nation’s Jebel Ali Port, which is operated by DP World.
The company is a member of the transport taskforce of the duke’s United for Wildlife umbrella organisation, which is trying to tackle the illegal trade in animal parts.
DP World is also a founding partner of the Earthshot Prize and, during William’s visit to Dubai, it announced £1 million in funding to be divided equally between two Earthshot Prize innovations whose creators pitched their ideas at the Expo.
Footage obtained by BBC News yesterday showed P&O staff being told over video message that their last day of employment would be ‘today’ and cheaper agency workers would be hired to replace
P&O, which bought by DP World in 2019, insisted the decision to cut jobs was ‘very difficult but necessary’ as it was ‘not a viable business’ in its current state.
The shock firing sparked widespread outrage with unions calling for a commercial boycott of the ferry giant until the jobs are reinstated.
Ministers are also facing calls to demand P&O reverse its decision and negotiate with the unions.
The ferry company issued a fresh statement today defending the ‘last resort decision’.
The firm said the decision was ‘difficult’ but that it could not have survived otherwise.
It also said it had made ‘all efforts’ to notify workers personally of their redundancy, and only a quarter of staff were told over Zoom.
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