P&O Ferries’ owner to benefit from at least £50m of UK freeport scheme

theguardian.com:

The Dubai-based owner of P&O Ferries is set to benefit from at least £50m of UK taxpayer support as part of the government’s freeport programme, raising questions over its role in the scheme after the sacking of 800 workers.

DP World, the Emirati logistics giant behind P&O, runs the UK’s second and third-biggest shipping terminals at Southampton and London Gateway – locations among the first 12 freeports in the UK to be picked by the government last year as a flagship part of its levelling up agenda.

Under the plans, each site will receive £25m of seed capital funding from the public purse to upgrade infrastructure, as part of the scheme championed by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak. Each location also benefits from tax breaks designed to encourage business investment, economic growth and job creation, with an upfront cost to taxpayers’ worth £500m over five years for all 12 freeports.

However, trade union leaders and opposition MPs questioned whether DP World should play a role in the programme after the sacking without notice of 800 P&O seafarers last week.

Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT trade union, said: “It’s beyond belief that a company which has treated British workers in such a brutal and callous fashion could still be in the frame for a £50m windfall from the British taxpayer. The government should be banning and sanctioning this bunch of corporate oligarchs in the strongest possible fashion until they reinstate the sacked workforce.”

Under the freeport programme in Scotland and Wales, operators are required to demonstrate plans for high quality employment and fair work practices – including the payment of the real living wage, as part of measures imposed by the devolved governments.

However, the UK