UK politics
Gov't awards contract for Thames Estuary "freeport" to Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem's DP World, that last year illegally sacked 800 P&O workers by video call & replaced them with cheap labour at £4/hr.
- Sacked British workers & broke employment laws
- Made record profits, up 35% to £1.524 billion
- Failed to repay £11million of taxpayer money given to them for Covid furlough scheme
"Freeports" are going to be an absolute shit-show, aren't they.
UK politics
They are a good idea, just not with the current lot in charge,
UK politics
@zleap @clarebee they're only a good idea if you want to take legislative powers away from democratically elected local government and replace it with corporations who are responsible only to their shareholders & business partners. Or maybe if you want to lower your tax base and encourage smuggling.
Otherwise they're a really shit idea for everybody but those who get the contracts.
UK politics
Ah ok, why can't these ports be run by a local business for local towns where they are based, so everyone in that area can simply benefit.
UK politics
@zleap @clarebee
Each of these freeports are about 30 miles accross covering multiple towns accross multiple boroughs and counties, and already have a privatly owned port within.
Essentially a freeport is an area without customs checks or excise tax, and are an invitation to smugglers to get things into/out of the country whilst avoiding both. Even without the corporate control, I don't see the benefit of living in a tax haven to anyone but the wealthy.