P&O owner will attend government summit after row

P&O Ferries owner, DP World, will now attend the government’s investment summit on Monday, despite a row over a minister’s criticism of the firm.

It had been feared they might pull out from the summit in London after Transport Secretary Louise Haigh criticised the ferry firm and urged consumers to boycott the company.

A £1bn expansion of the firm’s London Gateway port, in Essex, is also likely to go ahead, although it is unclear if this will be announced at the summit.

Whitehall sources said on Saturday that there had been “warm engagement” between senior figures in the firm and the government since Sir Keir Starmer distanced himself from his minister’s remarks.

The government is hosting the International Investment Summit on Monday, where it hopes to attract billions of pounds of investment.

Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Sir Keir said Haigh’s comments were “not the view of the government”.

The prime minister is understood not to have been directly involved in talks with DP World, nor has he personally spoken to Haigh about her remarks.