P&O Ferries is not rogue says Business Secretary after Cabinet rift

The business secretary said that P&O Ferries was not a “rogue” operator. This came as the government tried to put an end to the damaging controversy which has been raging in the lead-up to the international investment summit scheduled for Monday.

Jonathan Reynolds said to the BBC that he didn’t consider the company “rogue” despite the fact that his cabinet colleague Louise Haigh had described it as such earlier in the week.

Haigh’s comments, which were in line with Labour’s old position but led to reports saying that P&O parent company threatened to withdraw from Monday’s summit, have seen ministers trying their best not cause damage.

Haigh, Haigh the Transport Secretary, in an official statement called P&O “a rogue operator”. This was because its 2022 decision to lay off 800 employees with no notice, and instead hire agency staff at a lower salary. Haigh added that in an interview she was boycotting P&O and had advised her department to avoid dealing with them.

Keir starmer, who was speaking on Sunday morning after Reynolds’ comments about Haigh’s comments that they did not represent the official position of the government, said Haigh’s remarks did not reflect this.

Reynolds told Laura Kuenssberg of the BBC that “that’s not the position of the government.” “I am happy to confirm that I speak on behalf of the government in business matters. We will make it clear that what happened in 2022 was wrong as a business secretary. We’re changing laws to prevent it from happening again.

He described the mass firings by P&O as “a particularly egregious situation”. He added that if companies agree that this will not happen anymore and that we can work together on investments in the country, that we can have a discussion with them, then we would do that. The government does not have a position on boycotting them.

Haigh’s allies said that she was not informed that DP World planned to attend the event or that it was preparing a major investment in Britain before she made the comments. They also claimed that Downing Street had approved the P&O press release, and that Haigh had then been “left out to dry” in No 10 by those at Downing Street.

On Saturday, the prime minister called Haigh and told her that he has full confidence in her to be Transport Secretary.

He hopes that the statements made by him and Reynolds in the past few days have helped to reassure companies who are planning to attend the Guildhall event on Monday. On Saturday , the business department confirmed that DP World was indeed one of them.

Around 200 senior executives have signed up for the summit. They will also be joined by a number of cabinet ministers including Starmer, and Rachel Reeves, his chancellor.

Many business executives are concerned that the summit is being held without knowing the results of the budget this month.

Charlie Nunn is the CEO of Lloyds Bank. He told the BBC Sunday that he’s concerned about the taxation of employers’ contributions to pensions, which Reeves will be considering before she makes her announcement on the 30th of October.

Nunn stated: “We think that anything that encourages people to continue investing and taking appropriate risks is important. “Anything that would do the opposite is a handbrake.”

He said: “Pensions and contributions to pensions are crucial. About 40% of the people in Britain have pensions that won’t provide them with a basic allowance at retirement. We need to increase pension investments and enrolment.