A senior minister said she could be sacked after the P&O Ferries row.
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh is reportedly on the chopping block in Sir Keir Starmer‘s first Cabinet reshuffle.
The former Unite union shop steward was at the centre of a row earlier this month over criticism of P&O Ferries that almost derailed £1 billion investment in the UK.
The Prime Minister was forced to disown the attack by the Sheffield Heeley MP in a bid to salvage the investment.
A senior minister told The Sun: “If there was a reshuffle tomorrow I think she would be gone.
“No 10 cares a lot about messaging, so when you get the messaging wrong you have messed up. She is at risk.”
Another senior figure added: “The PM was unhappy about P&O.”
Ms Haigh branded P&O Ferries a “cowboy operator” in an official press release in the run-up to a flagship investment summit in London.
She was referring to its decision in 2022 to sack 800 workers and employ agency staff on lower pay, which it insisted was necessary to stave off bankruptcy.
In a subsequent ITV interview, she said she had been boycotting the shopping company for years and urged others to do the same.
The criticism triggered a row with P&O’s parent company DP World, with ministers scrambling to save £1 billion of investment in its London Gateway container port that was due to be unveiled at the event.
Dubai-based DP World later confirmed it would go ahead with its backing following talks with the Government.
The PM last week insisted he has “full confidence” in the Transport Secretary despite the fallout.