Port operator DP World has said it will attend the government’s International Investment Summit today after reports on Friday that it would boycott the event after comments by two senior government ministers.
DP World owns ferry subsidiary P&O Ferries, which was described by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh as a rogue operator and accused by Deputy PM Angela Rayner of “manipulation as an employer”.
Reports in Sky News had suggested DP World was even threatening to pull a £1 billion investment to expand the London Gateway docks, but this too was denied over the weekend.
The London Gateway is earmarked to be one of the centrepiece announcements of the summit, which starts today.
PM Keir Starmer said the views of the ministers were not those of the government.
In 2022, P&O fired 800 British workers and replaced them with overseas staff at much lower wages causing widespread outrage.
Liam Byrne MP, the Labour chairman of the Business and Trade Committee, told the BBC Haigh was “absolutely right” to criticise P&O’s behaviour at the time, but added, “I think there’s a bit of a split here between the past and the future”.
New laws introduced last week would provide a “very clear framework” on how companies can treat workers, Byrne told the BBC.