The Labour Party forced an emergency vote in Parliament on Monday to demand that P&O Ferries reinstate the 800 workers it sacked, and to insist that the government strengthen protections for workers.

The vote called on the government to:

• Outlaw fire and rehire and bring forward an urgent bill to strengthen workers rights

• Suspend the contracts of DP World – the owner of P&O Ferries – until the current situation is resolved

• Remove DP World from the UK government's Transport Advisory Group, to which it was appointed by the now-Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss 'to provide knowledge, experience and strategic expertise' on trade negotiations

Labour's decision to stage the vote followed mass outrage among the public, press and MPs after P&O Ferries sacked 800 British seafarers by Zoom. The company is seeking to replace the longstanding, skilled crew with cheaper agency labour.

The Labour Motion contained several key demands of Nautilus International, which is also calling for the government to: pursue any legal option available against P&O Ferries; share any legal advice on the matter of legal action; and ensure that the Maritime & Coastguard agency inspects every P&O Ferries vessel before it sails again and releases its investigation reports.

Peter Dowd MP is supporting the efforts and attended the recent demonstration at the Port of Liverpool. Afterwards Peter said “I along with my Labour colleagues locally and in Parliament will fight every step of the way for the jobs and livelihoods of these loyal workers.”

'This scandalous action must be reversed and never repeated. If P&O ferries can get away with this, it will give the green light to other exploitative employers. It is time for the government to do what’s right by hard working people, strengthen employee protections and ban fire and rehire to give people the security they deserve for an honest day's work.”