Transport Secretary caught in £1bn ferries row

Back to Labourland, where there’s more trouble afoot. It emerged today that some rather careless comments made by a Cabinet Minister have cost the government an, er, one billion-pound investment deal. Ouch.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh delivered some stinging remarks this week about P&O Ferries, after it emerged that the company had let go hundreds of agency staff it hired in a cost-cutting bid following mass lay-offs two years ago. But Haigh’s ill-advised commentary has sparked tensions between the government and DP World, of which P&O Ferries is a subsidiary – with the organisation now planning to boycott an investment summit next week. More than that, DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem was due to announce a £1bn investment plan for the London Gateway container port – which now, thanks to the row, will not take place. What a mess.

It is thought that Haigh’s ITV interview earlier in the week enraged business bosses, after the Transport Secretary blasted P&O Ferries as being a ‘rogue operator’ – and even urged viewers to boycott the company.