This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce81p528ejmo
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| P&O owner to attend summit despite row over minister's comments | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| P&O Ferries owner, DP World, will now attend the UK's investment summit on Monday, despite a row over a minister's criticism of the firm. | |
| It had been feared they might pull out from the summit - where they were expected to announce a £1bn investment - after Transport Secretary Louise Haigh criticised the ferry firm and urged consumers to boycott the company. | It had been feared they might pull out from the summit - where they were expected to announce a £1bn investment - after Transport Secretary Louise Haigh criticised the ferry firm and urged consumers to boycott the company. |
| An expansion of the firm's London Gateway port, in Essex, is likely to go ahead, with an announcement expected by some in the coming days. | |
| Whitehall sources said on Saturday that there had been "warm engagement" between senior figures in the firm and the government since Sir Keir Starmer distanced himself from his minister's remarks. | Whitehall sources said on Saturday that there had been "warm engagement" between senior figures in the firm and the government since Sir Keir Starmer distanced himself from his minister's remarks. |
| The government is hosting the International Investment Summit, where it hopes to attract billions of pounds of investment. | |
| A Downing Street spokesperson said the summit would "show Britain is open for business" as it looks to enable economic growth. | |
| Speaking to the BBC's Newcast on Friday, Sir Keir said Haigh's comments were "not the view of the government". | |
| The prime minister is understood not to have been directly involved in talks with DP World, nor has he personally spoken to Haigh about her remarks. | The prime minister is understood not to have been directly involved in talks with DP World, nor has he personally spoken to Haigh about her remarks. |
| DP World has said the expansion of the London Gateway port would bring Thurrock hundreds of jobs. | |
| The row started after Haigh described P&O as a "rogue operator" in an interview with ITV on Wednesday, after it sacked nearly 800 seafarers in 2022 and replaced them with cheaper workers. | |
| Asked whether she used the ferry service, she said: "I've been boycotting P&O Ferries for two-and-a-half years and I would encourage consumers to do the same." | |
| DP World insisted the move was needed for the survival of the ferry operator and to secure thousands of jobs. | |
| Haigh's comments in the interview coincided with the Department for Transport announcing new legislation aimed at protecting seafarers from what it described as "rogue employers". | |
| In that announcement, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was quoted calling P&O Ferries' prior actions "outrageous". | |
| But senior government figures previously told the BBC that they were incensed by the suggestion that consumers boycott the ferry firm. | |
| Haigh's comments also attracted criticism from the Conservatives, with shadow business secretary Kevin Hollinrake arguing Labour "don't understand business". | |
| However, the Labour chair of the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee, Liam Byrne, defended Haigh. | |
| She had been "absolutely right to say that the behaviour of P&O, owned by DP World, in the past has been completely unacceptable", he said. | |
| The row has exposed a tension between the new government's desire to attract business and strengthen workers' rights. |