DP World will attend the government’s international investment summit on Monday despite reports that a row over calls to boycott its subsidiary P&O Ferries had put a £1bn investment at risk.
Dubai-based DP World was reported to have pulled out of the summit and put plans to announce a major investment in the UK under review after Transport Secretary Louise Haigh’s scathing criticism of P&O.
The Department of Business and Trade confirmed on Saturday that DP World will attend the summit. DP World has been contacted for comment.
Keir Starmer said Haigh’s call for a boycott of the ferry firm was “not the view of the Government”.
Labour MP Liam Byrne, chairman of the House of Commons’ Business and Trade Committee, sought to play down the row, saying Haigh was “absolutely right” to criticise P&O’s past behaviour, but that new legislation would regulate how the firm can treat its staff.
Sky News had reported that DP World’s announcement of a planned major investment was under review after Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Transport Secretary Haigh repeated criticism of P&O Ferries.
The operator was criticised by politicians from both main parties in March 2022 when it suddenly sacked 800 British seafarers and replaced them with cheaper, mainly overseas, staff, saying it was necessary to stave off bankruptcy.
On Wednesday, Rayner and Haigh introduced legislation to prevent similar actions, with the Transport Secretary describing P&O Ferries as “cowboy operators” and Rayner saying the incident had been “an outrageous example of manipulation by an employer”.
In an ITV interview Haigh went further, saying: “I’ve been boycotting P&O Ferries for two-and-a-half years, and I encourage consumers to do the same.”
Asked whether Haigh was right to call for a boycott of the firm, which she called a “rogue operator”, Starmer said: “Well, that’s not the view of the Government.”
Asked about the DP World situation, Starmer told the BBC’s Newscast: “Well, look, I think we’ll resolve that.
“But… I think if you look at the last three or four weeks, you’ve seen £40-plus billion worth of investment.”
Byrne told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the ferry firm’s past treatment of its workers is “the kind of behaviour that we can’t have in this country”.
But he added that the Government’s Employment Rights Bill would provide a “very clear framework” on how companies can treat workers, which would “bite on” firms like P&O.
“I think there’s a bit of a split here between the past and the future. So look, Lou Haigh was absolutely right to say that the behaviour of P&O, owned by DP World, in the past has been completely unacceptable.”
Monday’s high-profile investment summit will be used by the Government as a chance to champion firms who have already committed billions of pounds to the UK and attempt to woo others who are considering new deals.
“The message, I think, that is going to go from the summit is really clear that if you want to come and do business here, you can’t behave in the way that P&O has in the past.
“And I think the Prime Minister was expressing that confidence in the way in which DP World is going to run their shop,” Byrne said.
Helen Corbett, PA Political Correspondent