P&O’s Dubai owner loses crucial role in Brexit freeports initiative

P&O’s Dubai owner loses crucial role in Brexit freeports initiative

The Dubai owner of P&O Ferries is no longer involved with a key freeports project amid anger over the mass sacking of 800 seafarers last month. DP World resigned from the board of Solent Freeport last month and is no longer a partner in the consortium. It comes after Green party peer, Natalie Bennett, asked the House of Lords if there were plans to withdraw P&O contracts for freeports following a backlash against the ferry operator. Ministers previously warned that DP World’s role in the freeport scheme was at risk. The Dubai-based company is a key part of the project, which is aimed at turbocharging post-Brexit trade by creating low-tax zones at hubs across Britain. The Solent Freeport, backed by Rishi Sunak last year, is expected to cost £2bn and create more than 25,000 jobs in the Southampton area. The £4.5bn Thames Freeport, where DP World was also involved, is intended to create more than 20,000 jobs. Lord Greenhalgh, a levelling-up minister, said: “The Government is continuing to work to understand whether DP World or P&O Ferrymasters are in breach of any of the requirements on them as investors in the Thames Freeport.” DP World was in line for £50m