Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds was questioned how close the government was to losing the £1 billion commitment in the London Gateway port during an appearance on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.
“Look, we’ve had to have a conversation following some of the press reports,” Mr. Reynolds stated.
When Transport Secretary Louise Haigh called the ferry company a “rogue operator” and advised customers to boycott it, the £1 billion pledge made by the Dubai-based company DP World, which owns P&O Ferries, was put in risk.
P&O Ferries sparked a great deal of controversy in March 2022 when it laid off 800 British seamen and replaced them with cheaper, mostly foreign labor. The firm claimed that this action was necessary to save the business from going out of business.
Mr. Reynolds would only respond that it is now “going ahead” when asked if the announcement, which is scheduled to be the historic commitment of the next investment gathering, was nearly canceled.
The minister was also asked why Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, would not attend the government’s investment summit.
