P&O Ferries' decision to carry out a mass sacking of 800 seafarers was not due to Brexit, Nigel Farage has said.
Speaking about the company's decision on GB News, Farage said the workers did "nothing wrong" and it is "not their fault" that P&O Ferries "took big losses" throughout lockdown.
Despite this, Mr Farage took aim at the "idiots" who have used the news to criticise Brexit.
He said exclusively on GB News: "Wrong, wrong, wrong! We voted Brexit in order to stop these kinds of things happening.
"We voted Brexit because we were tired of British workers in many sectors being undercut, and we thought with Brexit, we would get a change."
Mr Farage spoke about how the Government may be able to persuade P&O to change their course of action.
He stated: "I take the point we have to deal with UK domestic law and maritime law, but there is quite an important sanction that we could put in place to persuade P&O they've chosen the wrong course.
"It's simple, the Chancellor has plans for two really big free ports in this country, and P&O is part of those plans.
'Rishi Sunak could say to P&O, you will be taken out of the free port contracts unless you do the right thing, that might be really effective."
Workers on the P&O ferry the Pride of Kent as it remains moored at the Port of Dover in Kent after P&O Ferries suspended sailings and handed 800 seafarers immediate severance notices. Picture date: Friday March 18, 2022.
Gareth Fuller
In addition, concerns have arisen over the safety of vessels from P&O Ferries, amid claims that seafarers being paid £1.82-an-hour are to take over from their counterparts who were previously in place.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said the vessels will be blocked from travelling if they do not pass the safety checks in place.
Mr Shapps said the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has been instructed to inspect the company’s ferries prior to them being able to re-enter service to ensure the new crews proposed for them are "safe and properly trained".
He told MPs: “If they are not these ships will not sail.”
Sacked P&O workers watched in the House of Commons public gallery as concerns were raised about the ferry operator, bought by Dubai-based logistics firm DP World in 2019, opting to replace the them with cheaper agency staff.
Protesters stand outside the P&O building at the Port of Hull, East Yorkshire, after P&O Ferries suspended sailings and handed 800 seafarers immediate severance notices. Picture date: Friday March 18, 2022.
Danny Lawson
