P & O

The loss of jobs at P & O is a direct result of Brexit, in two ways.  Firstly, its a result of the loss of business due to Brexit, as trade between Britain and the EU has declined sharply, intensified by the further self-inflicted wounds of government imposed lockdowns, but secondly, it is a result of the fact that, outside the EU, businesses are no longer restrained by its minimum requirements in relation to labour rights.

A large part of UK trade with the EU goes across the Channel, but with all of the red tape and additional costs that Brexit has imposed on that trade, it has collapsed.  Its no longer worthwhile many businesses in Europe sending goods to Britain, and even less worthwhile businesses in Britain sending them to the EU.  Its only large firms, shipping higher value completed goods for whom such trade is now worthwhile, and much of that trade is done by shipping container, not by lorry.

But, its not just goods from within Britain that this applies to.  In the past, it made sense for firms in Ireland, to ship lorries across to Britain, and then across the Channel, rather than undertake a much longer sea voyage to mainland Europe from Ireland.  That is no longer the case.  The new Irish Europort at Rosslare is now sending more and more freight directly to mainland Europe, whilst trade between Britain and Dublin has fallen by more than 20%.

P & O say that, with this dramatic fall in business, in the UK, they can no longer run their UK operations profitably, on the basis of the previous wages and conditions of their workers.  Obviously, capitalist enterprises do not operate out of the goodness of their hearts, or as charities, whatever liberal and social-democratic politicians might think.  They operate only to produce profits, indeed, not just profits, but at least the average annual rate of profit on their capital, and if they don't, then, they will invest that capital elsewhere.  Like it or not, that is how capitalism works.  Its why Marxists don't like it, and unlike the liberals and social-democrats, argue the need to replace it with Socialism.  Its no good the liberals and social democrats saying they don't like it, if they are not prepared to change it, which is what makes all of their current hand-wringing simply pathetic.

The liberals and social-democrats have expressed fury that P & O should operate according to the rules of the capitalist system they defend.  They have expressed even more fury that the company sent the redundancy notices to workers by text message, as though, in the end, it makes any difference whether you are on the dole because the boss sacked you by text or by a nicely worded letter, printed on embossed velum!  But, not only is this the way that the capitalist system they defend works, but it is also a direct consequence of the Brexit they support. 

People like Boris Johnson have direct responsibility, because he advocated Brexit, but Starmer also bears direct responsibility, because, since becoming Labour Leader, he has become as big a Brexiter, if not bigger, than Johnson!  The loss of jobs rests as squarely on the shoulders of Starmer and his reactionary, nationalistic Blue Labour Party as it does on those of Johnson and the Tories.  And, the same is true of those union leaders, such as within UNITE, that argued that it was necessary to carry through Brexit.  This is chickens quickly coming home to roost.

The liberals and social-democrats are now arguing that the P&O action, in sending out notices by text, might not be legal.  Maybe, maybe not.  Again, Brexit means that lots of such unsavoury behaviour is now legal that previously would not have been.  The whole point of Brexit was the desire of the petty-bourgeoisie to have a bonfire of labour rights and freedoms, as well as consumer and other rights that from their perspective gets in the way of them making profits.  So, those that backed Brexit/Lexit can hardly claim they were not told what the consequences of it would be.  Its time for them to own it.

But, if the action is not legal, what will be the consequence of that?  At the moment, P&O have sacked their existing staff, and are recruiting workers from elsewhere in the world, to whom they can pay lower wages.  They say that is the only way they can operate profitably.  If its ruled that the action is not legal, then the obvious consequence will be that P&O would just close their operations entirely, because no capitalist enterprise is going to operate knowing its going to make losses.  So, as with many other UK businesses, whose profits have been destroyed by Brexit, and made worse by lockdowns, the government will have to choose whether to nationalise them, the last thing that all of the free marketeers on the Tory backbenches, and much of the Blue Labour front benches want to be associated with.

But, even were they to go down that road, its doesn't change anything.  The businesses would still be loss making, and now the government would have to cover the losses out of taxes.  Where do the taxes come from?  The profits of other companies who are making profits, and by draining those profits, with taxes, the result is that those businesses are then less able to accumulate capital, and employ workers.  The economy slows and becomes less productive, and so less competitive, sending Britain further into the spiral of decline it has been in for more more than a century, and from which membership of the EU, at least, gave it some respite, for 43 years.