ACAS has agreed the terms of reference, involving studying the contract between Total, Jacobs and their sub-contractor, Italian firm, IREM. This is exactly right as the contracts must be examined. My guess is that ACAS will find nothing wrong with contracts and no laws were broken.
This will leave the issue firmly in the political court. It is not feasible for the UK to re-negotiate EU treaty to opt out of employments agreements. It will take years anyway and needs agreement of all members. It is a non-starter, even if it was the correct thing to do, which it isn't.
What will happen is the political mud will start flying around, with Mandy and his cronies digging up all sorts of evidence or extremists using this dispute for their own ends. It could get very nasty.
Two issues here. Is Mandy the right guy to front up for the Government on this matter? I doubt it. Secondly, if Brown had not made his original remark about British workers, would the latest issue arisen? Maybe not.
The political seeds have been sowed. The issue is, will they grow?
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