Tory minister Grant Shapps missed a key chance to help soon-to-be-jobless P&O Ferries staff when he met with top execs in Dubai, Labour has said.
The Transport Secretary was warned in November a "new low-cost competitor" to P&O would mean the firm was to make fresh "commercial decisions" in 2022, when he met with the boss of the firm's parent company DP World.
Newly-released minutes of the meeting between Mr Shapps and DPW chief executive and chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, showed the minister was told Irish Ferries would pose "challenges in respect of P&O's operations".