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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
John Siddle

P&O Ferries boss shamed after firing 800 staff will no longer attend speaking gig

The shamed boss of P&O Ferries is to miss out on a shipping summit after an outcry from seafarers he illegally sacked.

Peter Hebblethwaite, who admitted breaking the law when he axed 800 workers without notice in March, was booked to speak at the Interferry conference on Monday.

He was meant to talk about “Power and People” at the event in Seattle, US, where tickets cost up to £1,920.

But tonight bosses said he was “no longer able to participate”.

Axed sous chef John Lansdown, who won an unfair dismissal lawsuit against P&O on Friday, accused Mr Hebblethwaite of "living in a parallel universe".

P&O Ferries provide links between the UK and France (AFP via Getty Images)

John, 40, from Herne Bay, in Kent, had worked for the company from the age of 16 before being suddenly fired in the CEO's brazen plan to replace workers with cheaper, foreign labour.

He said: "Hebblethwaite is blinded by his own arrogance.

"What responsible person was going to take anything he said about 'power and people' seriously?

"I can tell him a thing or two about people. There isn’t a day goes by where I don’t hear and see the very real consequences that the actions of P&O Ferries has had on the mental and physical well-being of many of my former colleagues”.

There was outrage as P&O replaced axed staff with cheap labour (AFP via Getty Images)

But P&O said the move, which involved replacing axed staff with cheap labour, was vital to safeguard its future.

Millionaire Mr Hebblethwaite, 52, was voted Europe’s worst employer by transport workers’ unions in May.

P&O has been asked for comment.

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