The ministers confirmed that DP World, the Emirates logistics giant behind P&O, no longer played a central role as a “partner” in Solent freeport after the UK’s commercial director resigned from the system’s board last week. It comes after questions from the Lords by Green Party colleague Natalie Bennett, who had asked the government what plans had been put in place to withdraw any freeport contracts as a result of the layoffs. Speaking on behalf of the government, Stephen Greenhalgh, a leveling minister, responded Wednesday night, saying: “On March 28, 2022, DP World resigned from the Solent freeport board and is no longer a partner in the freeport consortium.” The government has come under intense pressure to handle labor rights and DP World’s role in the UK’s critical infrastructure after P&O Ferries fired 800 crew members without consultation last month. The boss of the company admitted to the deputies that the company violated the law for the notification because “no union could accept our proposals”. Last month, the Guardian reported that DP World was to benefit from at least 50 50 million in taxpayer support in the UK as part of its key role in the free ports of Solent and Thames, leading to questions in parliament from Labor leader Keir Starmer on government priorities. . The 25 25 million in freeport funding, which is still subject to approval, will be paid to a major local authority responsible for each of the 12 special tax and customs zones across the UK and is expected to be spent for the benefit of the entire freeport area. . DP World is the operator of the container terminal at Southampton Harbor, part of the free port of Solent. However, it is more involved as a partner in the Thames program, which owns and manages the port and logistics park in London, which was named one of the government’s tax havens last year. Grinhallg seemed to suggest to the Lords that the company still had a role to play in the Thames’s work. “The government is still working to find out if DP World or P&O Ferrymasters are violating any of their claims as investors in the free Thames port,” he told Bennett. Last week, DP World’s UK Commercial Director Aart Hille Ris Lambers resigned from the Solent freeport board amid local pressure, including Portsmouth board chairman Gerald Vernon-Jackson, another of Solent freeport’s 11 board members. . However, details about the end of the company’s role as a partner were not confirmed at that time. Alan Whitehead, a Labor MP for the Southampton Test, whose constituency includes freeport, said it was appropriate for DP World to no longer have a formal role on the board given its labor rights history. “It’s right they are taking more back seat now. “I do not think it’s just the resignation of a director, the freeport consortium decided it and I definitely have that support,” he said. Subscribe to the daily Business Today email or follow the Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk DP World remains the operator of Southampton Harbor, an integral part of the free port of Solent as the UK’s second largest container terminal. Covering a wide area, including the cities of Southampton, Portsmouth and most of the Isle of Wight, the Solent freeport is expected to create 32,000 jobs and add 3, 3.6 billion to the UK economy, boosting international trade. “They are not going to leave the port or anything, they will continue to operate the container terminal. But freeport is growing without their main involvement. “Among other things, this is a better guarantee that the terms and conditions in freeport are likely to be better met,” Whitehead said. The government also said last week that Ernst Schulze, chief executive of DP World UK, was no longer a member of the government’s post-Brexit trade advisory group set up to support global business opportunities. DP World has been approached for comment.
