Port plan to go ahead after row over minister's comments

A £1bn investment in an Essex port will take place, despite a row with the owner of P&O Ferries, the business secretary has said.

It had been suggested DP World might shelve the plan after Transport Secretary Louise Haigh described P&O Ferries as a "rogue operator".

But Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC DP World's plan to expand its London Gateway port "will go ahead".

The row had threatened to overshadow a major government summit starting on Monday, at which ministers want to showcase investment into the UK.

But DP World will now attend the International Investment Summit, where the government hopes to attract billions of pounds of investment.

The row started after an interview on Wednesday in which Haigh said she had been boycotting P&O Ferries since its decision in 2022 to sack 800 staff and replace them with cheaper agency workers, adding she would "encourage consumers to do the same".

The company has defended the decision as “tough but necessary," arguing it was required to safeguard the future of the firm.

Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, Reynolds said his cabinet colleague had not been expressing "the government’s position”.

He added that Labour maintained that the sackings were "wrong", but highlighted that it had now announced plans to tighten legal protections for seafarers.

"It's now the case that, as we're in government, we can stop what happened with P&O Ferries happening again," he added.

His comments came after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC's Newscast on Friday that the Haigh's views were not those of the government's.

On Saturday a government source said the prime minister had confidence in Haigh.

Haigh's comments had coincided with the Department for Transport announcing new legislation aimed at protecting seafarers' jobs from so-called "fire and rehire" practices of "rogue employers".

Dubai-based DP World is yet to comment publicly on the row. The BBC has approached the company for a comment.

It has said the expansion of the London Gateway port would bring Thurrock in Essex hundreds of jobs.

The United Arab Emirates-based company also owns the container port in Southampton.