P&O owner DP World is to attend a highly anticipated investment summit after a £1bn investment row.

It had been feared they might pull out from the UK’s Investment Summit on Monday after the company’s owners, Dubai-based DP World, decided to review their investment after Transport Secretary Louise Haigh called them a “rogue operator” after mass layoffs.

The investment was due to be unveiled at the flagship summit in London on Monday where Sir Keir Starmer will pitch the UK as “open for business” as part of his bid to drive growth into the country.

This withdrawl of crucial funding is a significant blow to Starmer’s economic plan.

Haigh told ITV: “I’ve been boycotting P&O Ferries for two and a half years and I’d encourage consumers to do the same.

“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.”

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 told Newscast that Haigh’s opinion on P&O is “not the view of the government”.

DP World has said the expansion of the London Gateway port would bring Thurrock hundreds of jobs.

Shadow Business and Trade Secretary Kevin Hollinrake said: “On the eve of this much vaunted inward investment event, this is a body blow for the Government and shows that Labour Cabinet ministers have never been in business, don’t understand business and don’t know how to talk to business. They just haven’t got a clue.

“Just 100 days in, new investment should be rolling in, not being scared off because of anti-business statements or worries about the impact of Labour’s employment and tax policies.”

This news comes days after Rachel Reeves was issued serious warnings over raising capital gains tax to 39 percent, which she is expected to do in her October 30 Budget to fill a £22billionn “black hole” in spending.