P&O Ferries’ owner pulls news of £1bn port investment after ministers criticise firm

Transport secretary denounced DP World over mass sackings while bringing in protections for workers at sea



DP World, the Dubai-based owner of P&O Ferries, has put the announcement of a reported £1bn investment in the UK on hold after fierce criticism of the firm by ministers this week.

The announcement of plans by DP World to expand its London Gateway port was due to be a key part of the Labour government’s investment summit on Monday.

The event, a showpiece to attract foreign money to the UK, was expected to be attended by Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves.

It is understood that the UAE owning group’s chair and chief executive officer, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, will now pull out of the event after Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, and Louise Haigh, the transport secretary, criticised P&O Ferries on Wednesday while announcing new worker protections – with Haigh referring to the firm as a “rogue operator”.

Asked about the row on Friday, Starmer declined to answer directly, saying there had been “five or six huge investments in the UK” announced in the past four weeks.

However, Downing Street quickly distanced itself from Haigh’s comments, with a source saying it was the transport secretary’s personal view.

P&O Ferries, a subsidiary of DP World since 2019, united politicians in anger in 2022 when it fired 800 crew without warning, replacing them with low-paid agency staff working longer hours, in some cases below the minimum wage.

Announcing moves to end fire and rehire in the employment rights bill for workers this week, Rayner said the actions of P&O Ferries was “outrageous” and “exactly why we’re taking bold action”.

In interviews on Wednesday, Haigh said she had boycotted P&O Ferries and told the Department for Transport to have no dealings with either the ferry firm or its owning group.

Haigh said on Wednesday: “I’ve instructed my department to have absolutely no contact with P&O Ferries or DP World unless it is literally on safety grounds. The department is not to have anything to do with them, and certainly not engaging with them.”

She added: “We are a government that wants to work in partnership with business and the workforce, but not with rogue operators.”

As leader of the opposition, Starmer himself fiercely criticised the then prime minister Boris Johnson for giving further contracts to DP World after the P&O sackings scandal.

He mocked Johnson, saying “DP World must be quaking in their boots,” adding: “Can the prime minister guarantee that these companies will not get a penny more of taxpayers’ money – or a single tax break – until they reinstate the workforce?”

The shadow business and trade secretary, Kevin Hollinrake, said it was a “body blow for the government”, adding: “Just 100 days in, new investment should be rolling in, not being scared off because of anti-business statements or worries about the impact of Labour’s employment and tax policies.”

No 10 distances itself from Louise Haigh after DP World threatens to pull investment



Downing Street has distanced itself from Transport Secretary Louise Haigh after DP World threatened to pull £1 billion of investment from the UK.

ITV News understands DP World has been upset by Ms Haigh's comments, made in an interview with ITV News, where she called DP World's subsidiary company P&O Ferries a "rogue operator" and encouraged consumers to join her in boycotting the company.

A Downing Street source told ITV News "Louise Haigh's comments were her own personal views and did not represent the views of the government".

DP World was due to announce the major investment in London Gateway port at the government's Investment Summit on Monday. The company is now reviewing that announcement.

However, ITV News also understands that comments made by Ms Haigh alongside the announcement in which she called P&O Ferries "cowboy operators" were signed off by Downing Street.

When asked about the news earlier today, Prime Minister Keir Starmer dodged the question instead insisting the government is delivering on its plans to bring investment to the UK.

Since 2009, DP World has invested more than £2 billion in both the London Gateway and the Port of Southampton.

Starmer rebukes minister over P&O ‘boycott’ call



For the first time since becoming Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has publicly rebuked one of his cabinet ministers - after remarks that appeared to put off a company attending an important investment summit on Monday.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said that she had boycotted P&O Ferries in recent years and would encourage other people to do so.

The firm sacked hundreds of workers in one go in 2022 and replaced them with lower paid agency staff.

But P&O Ferries’ parent company, DP World, has now suggested it will not attend the government’s flagship gathering for potential future investors and may postpone an investment announcement because of what the transport secretary said.

“I think we'll resolve that,” Starmer told the BBC’s Newscast podcast.

When I asked if Haigh had been wrong to describe the company as cowboys and suggest a boycott, he said: “Well, look, that's not the view of the government.”

It is a view Haigh has set out before, but words mean more when you are a secretary of state.

Responding to the incident, Conservative shadow business secretary, Kevin Hollinrake, said that on the eve of the investment event it was "body blow for the government".

"[It] shows that Labour cabinet ministers have never been in business, don’t understand business and don’t know how to talk to business. They just haven’t got a clue." he said.

Senior figures I have spoken to in government are incensed at the suggestion from a senior minister of a boycott – at just the point they are trying to claim they lead a “pro-business” administration.

I understand conversations between the government and the company are ongoing to try to tempt them to turn up on Monday.

But the prime minister could have done without a public row with one of those invited and with one of his cabinet ministers.

Show some leadership, Starmer. Sack her