Keir Starmer was forced to respond to comments made by his transport minister, Louise Haigh, after she called out cruise giant P&O for mass layoffs.
Starmer responded on Newscast to Haigh’s comments on P&O. (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer has rebuked one of his top allies under the bus after her controversial comments sparked a huge investment row.
Transport secretary Louise Haigh made bold claims about cruise and ferry company P&O, calling them “rogue” and “cowboy operators” for sacking 800 staff members in favour of cheaper, agency labour, often from overseas.
This was unfortunately timed as P&O’s owners, DP World, were due to announce a £1bn investment at the International Investment summit on Monday.
However, since Haigh’s rant on ITV, it has withdrawn from the summit and is not expected to issue the funds, which would have transformed the London Gateway port into the UK’s largest port by volume.
Haigh said in the interview: “I’ve been boycotting P&O Ferries for two and a half years and I’d encourage consumers to do the same.
Keir Starmer has been accused of throwing Haigh under the bus. (Image: Getty)
“They’re a rogue operator. We’re cracking down on the way that they treated employees, and we want to see them mirror the standards of other operators that come in and out of Great Britain’s waters.
“Make no mistake, this is good for workers and good for business. Cowboy operators like P&O Ferries will no longer be able to act with impunity, undercutting good employers in the process.”
Sir Keir was forced to respond after Haigh’s statements impacted Labour’s flagship investment summit, sparking backlash that he was floundering and playing a blame game.
He maintained on an episode of Newscast that Haigh’s views are “not the view of the government” and expressed hope that the investment issue would be sorted.
The Prime Minister said: “There are always going to be choppy days, choppy moments, I’ve been through this before, you get these days and weeks when things are choppy. There’s no getting around that, that is in the nature of government, there’s huge scrutiny.”
Sir Keir admitted “bumps and side winds, which, you know, I’d prefer we hadn’t bumped into and been pushed by”, but did not specifically name Haigh’s comments as one of these issues.
Instead he pointed to the “bumps and side winds” as being “stuff on donations, staffing issues, that sort of thing”.
This is not the first time Labour has been critical of P&O. In 2022, Angela Rayner hit out against the company’s mass layoffs, and a press release from the deputy prime minister released the same day as Haigh’s comments also expressed the same views.
Despite this, the prime minister himself and insider sources have both maintained that the transport secretary’s feelings towards P&O do not reflect that of the government.