MPs blasted blacklister bosses yesterday over their “callous” attempts to dish out meagre compensation to blacklisting victims.

The sensational report published by the Scottish affairs select committee said the decision of eight firms to bypass trade unions and set up their own compensation scheme was “callous and manipulative.”

The eight firms, which include Balfour Beatty, Carillion and Sir Robert McAlpine, were slammed by unions when they launched the “cut-price” scheme last year, which predicted that workers could win back many times more than the offered compensation via the courts.

The select committee’s report, which was welcomed by construction unions Ucatt and GMB last night, slams the companies for offering paltry sums, excluding those suing for compensation and offering no hope of re-employment for blacklisted workers.

It also attacks the other 22 blacklister firms named in a database seized by the Information Commissioner in 2009 for making no effort at all to compensate victimised workers.

Committee chair Ian Davidson said: “The unilateral introduction of a compensation scheme was an act of bad faith by those involved, likely to be motivated by a desire to minimise financial and reputational damage rather than being a genuine attempt to address the crimes of the past.”

And Blacklist Support Group secretary Dave Smith said: “These wretches have misled Parliament and ruined the lives of thousands of honest working men and women just for the crime of being a trade union member or raising concerns about safety on building sites.“

The evidence that senior officers from undercover secret police spying units colluded with the illegal blacklisting conspiracy is a stain on democracy.”

GMB national officer Justin Bowden said the report proved that “MPs of all political parties do not trust the companies to eradicate blacklisting.”

And Ucatt general secretary Steve Murphy said: “Every week there are more grubby revelations about the involvement of the state in blacklisting. The only way we are going to get the truth is through a full public inquiry.

“This puts fresh pressure on the government to launch a public inquiry so workers and their families whose lives were ruined can learn the full truth once and for all.”