Mandy is wasting taxpayer’s money

An independent inquiry into the use of "foreign workers" at the Lindsey oil refinery has rejected claims that the wages they were paid undercut British employees.

Acas, the arbitration service, has also found no evidence that the law was broken when a subcontractor hired workers from Italy and Portugal.

This comes as no surprise.  There was no reason to suspect that IREM, the Italian contractor, did not bid in a fair and transparent way.

Not being content with this, and obvious to counter the setback for the unions, Mandy will today:

announce a study of skills and productivity to ensure British firms win as many engineering construction contracts at home and abroad.

Save the taxpayer some money Mandy.  Here are the conclusions already drawn up:

1. We have found huge differences in productivity between UK and overseas workers;

2. Overseas firms spend more money investing in a skilled workforce;

3. Overseas workers are far more flexible in wanting to travel;

4. Employment conditions for overseas workers give companies a competitive advantage;

5. We found no evidence that overseas firms undercut wages rates to win work.

The review just keeps the unions on side for a few more months.