The Prime Minister has declined to comment on reports a £1 billion investment in the UK has been jeopardised by ministers’ criticism of the company behind it.
Dubai-based DP World is reported to have been planning to announce a major investment in the UK at the Government’s International Investment Summit next Monday.
But, according to Sky News, that investment is now under review after Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Transport Secretary Louise Haigh repeated criticism of P&O Ferries, which is owned by DP World.
P&O Ferries 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, Ms Rayner and Ms Haigh introduced legislation to prevent similar actions, with the Transport Secretary describing P&O Ferries as “cowboy operators” and Ms Rayner saying the incident had been “an outrageous example of manipulation by an employer”.
On Friday, Sky News reported DP World chairman, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, ordered Monday’s announcement to be cancelled and the planned investment in the company’s London Gateway port to be reviewed.
Asked about the row on Friday, the Prime Minister declined to answer directly, saying there had been “five or six huge investments in the UK” announced in the past four weeks.
He said: “We’ve got a massive investment summit coming up on Monday where leading investors from across the globe are all coming to the UK.
“This is very, very good for the country, very, very good for the future of jobs, it’s just the sort of change that we need to see.”
Monday’s investment summit was a major part of the Government’s plan for its first 100 days in office and its mission of securing economic growth.
Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram said he had “very little sympathy” with DP World “moaning about a Government because of the actions that they’ve previously taken against workers in this country”.
“We as a Government would have wanted to work with these, but they would have had to have done things differently because you can’t have fire and rehire, you can’t just sack workers, there are protections in this country for everybody,” he said.
Conservative shadow business secretary Kevin Hollinrake said DP World’s decision was “a body blow for the Government” that shows ministers “don’t understand business and don’t know how to talk to business”.
He said: “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.”
At the time of the P&O Ferries incident, senior Conservatives themselves criticised the company, with then-prime minister Boris Johnson telling MPs it appeared to have broken the law.
Then-transport secretary Grant Shapps also called for P&O Ferries chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite to resign or be dismissed following the incident.
DP World and the Department for Business and Trade have been contacted for comment.
