P&O has admitted plans to sack almost 800 UK crew came "without warning or prior consultation" as Labour branded the ferry giant a "rogue employer".
In a letter to Tory ministers on Tuesday night, P&O chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite failed to offer any apology after shock mass redundancies last week were revealed to staff in a pre-recorded video.
The company also underlined that all 786 workers were employed with three P&O subsidiaries, based offshore in Jersey rather than the UK, and claimed it did not therefore break UK employment law.
