P&O Ferries’ millionaire boss Peter Hebblethwaite was labelled a “shameless criminal” yesterday — as he admitted breaking employment law by sacking 800 workers without notice.

       While giving evidence to MPs, the ferry fatcat, agreed there was “absolutely no doubt” his firm should have consulted with trade unions.

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       P&O Ferries’ millionaire boss Peter Hebblethwaite was labelled a 'shameless criminal' at the Commons as he broke employment law Credit: PA 3

       Hebblethwaite, who sacked 800 workers without notice, said 'I would make this decision again Credit: PA

       He claimed he was “saving the business”, adding: “I would make this decision again, I am afraid.”

       Mr Hebblethwaite also revealed that replacement workers will be paid less than minimum wage, but insisted this is allowed under international maritime rules. Darren Jones, chairman of the business select committee, asked him: “Are you in this mess because you don’t know what you’re doing, or are you just a shameless criminal?”

       And he was later accused of “absolute thuggery and criminality” by Labour’s former shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald.

       Asked if he had breached his legal obligations as a company director, Mr Hebblethwaite said: “I completely throw our hands up, my hands up, that we did choose not to consult. We did not believe there was any other way to do this.”

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       He also offered an apology to the seafarers who lost their jobs, adding: “This may be a late apology, but the reason you’re hearing it now is that I’ve spent the last week talking to our people one-to-one.

       “P&O has lost an unsustainable amount of money. The reality is, we would have had to close the business. We thought long and hard about this and decided every option available would result in the closure of P&O. This new crewing model is fundamentally different. No union could accept it.”

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       Mr Hebblethwaite, on ￡325,000 a year, said the new crew will be paid just ￡5.50 an hour. The minimum wage is ￡8.91.

       RMT union general secretary Mick Lynch told MPs P&O was guilty of “flagrant breaches of the law”. He said: “They’ve done it deliberately and factored in what they’re going to have to pay for it. It’s outrageous.”

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       He said the company is “threatening and blackmailing” its former employees, telling them they must sign.

       MPs also heard P&O could be prosecuted for breaking employment law because it failed to give at least 45 days’ notice of the massive job losses.

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       Mr Hebblethwaite also revealed that replacement workers will be paid less than minimum wage Credit: PA