Two parliamentary select committees will join forces to hold a one-off evidence session on Thursday 24 March.
 
Transport committee chair Huw Merriman and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy committee chair Darren Jones will lead MPs in a joint session to examine options available to the government and the 800 who lost their jobs. 
 
Among those invited to appear are P&O Ferries chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite and representatives from the company’s Dubai-based owners DP World.

Representative from the Insolvency Service, unions and employment law experts have also been invited.

The committee chairs said in a statement: “This session will aim to understand the detail of the options available to the 800 workers who were roundly dismissed by P&O Ferries last week. The cruel nature of their dismissal put employment practices and UK plc under the microscope. 
 
“From P&O Ferries, our members want to know why this action has been taken and how it can be justified. From the government and its agencies, we want confirmation that our laws are not being broken and safety is not being compromised on our ships.
 
“This shocking story has raised questions about UK employment law, safety practices, the support of this business through a pandemic and the redress available. We intend to hear from the key players about what they are going to do that means these workers are not left high and dry.”