Blow as 'cowboy' firm pulls.£1bn London port venture

Sir Keir Starmer's goal of turning Britain around with a surge in economic growth has suffered a major blow after a £1bn investment was pulled because of a ministerial blunder.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL, DAVID MADDOX

On the eve of Sir Keir's much-hyped investment summit which he and chancellor Rachel Reeves have pinned their hopes on kickstarting a new era of growth - Dubai-based DP World has pulled out of a £1bn planned investment in its London Gateway container port.

The major port and logistics firm has scrapped its investment in the key London shipping facility after deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and transport secretary Louise Haigh were critical of the company when the deputy prime minister introduced her new workers' rights package.

In particular, it is understood that DP World objected to Ms Haigh calling them a "cowboy operator" and using an interview with ITV to threaten a boycott of the company.

However, as a blame game erupted, it is being claimed that Downing Street signed off the offending press release, while friends of Ms Haigh have pointed out that almost every member of the cabinet has attacked P&O over the last two years for firing and rehiring 800 employees. The issue became a major cause in the trade union drive to bring in new workers' rights and protections which were announced this week.

There have been suggestions that Downing Street might be trying to "scapegoat" Ms Haigh to save Ms Rayner and distract from its own mistakes. But the decision by DP World is a major setback for Labour's growth strategy, which was already struggling to get off the ground.