P&O boss slammed after admitting he couldn't live on £4.87 an hour his staff are paid

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The boss of P&O Ferries has been slammed after he admitted that he couldn't live on the £4.87 he pays some of his crew.Peter Hebblethwaite - who earned £500,000 last year - told the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee he was sorry for sacking hundreds of workers without notice and replacing them with agency staff.Labour Shadow Scotland Secretary Ian Murray slammed the ferry boss for his "disgraceful comments and actions".He added "poverty wages should have been consigned to the past" when Labour introduced the minimum wage in 1999.P&O runs the ferry service between Cairnryan and Larne in Northern Ireland.The UK minimum wage became £11.44 an hour in April.But for maritime workers employed by an overseas agency, who work on ships which are foreign-registered in international waters, the rates do not apply.The UK Government promised to close the loophole two years ago after the P&O Ferries job cuts.Murray said: “Poverty wages should have been consigned to the past with Labour's minimum wage over 25 years ago but the disgraceful comments and actions from P&O shows they still persist."That’s why we need a New Deal for Working People with a Labour government that will make work pay that ensures security and dignity in work.”Hebblethwaite admitted that people on his boats can be paid as little as £4.87 an hour.

P&O workers make £5.20 an hour on average.He said: “We are paying considerably ahead of the international minimum standard."We believe that it is right that as an international business operating in international waters, we should be governed by international law.”He was asked: “Do you think you could live on £4.87 an hour?”Hebblethwaite replied: “No, I couldn’t.”He also admitted he was paid a salary of