The government’s Investment Summit has suffered a major blow after ports and logistics giant DP World pulled a scheduled announcement of a £1bn investment in its London Gateway container port, following criticism by members of Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet.

Sky News understands the Dubai-based company’s investment was due to be a centrepiece of Monday’s event, which is intended to showcase Britain’s appeal to investors and will be attended by the prime minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

DP World’s investment in the port is now under review however, following criticism by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner of its subsidiary P&O Ferries.

In March 2022, P&O caused huge controversy by sacking 800 British seafarers and replacing them with cheaper, largely foreign workers, a move it said was required to prevent the company from collapsing.

Announcing new legislation to protect seafarers on Wednesday, Ms Haigh described P&O as a “rogue operator” and said consumers should boycott the company.

In a press release issued with Ms Rayner, Ms Haigh said P&O’s actions were “a national scandal” and Ms Rayner described it as “an outrageous example of manipulation by an employer”.

While Ms Haigh has previously criticised P&O’s actions, the strength and timing of the ministers’ language undermined efforts by the Department for Business and Trade to make the Investment Summit a turning point for the government and the economy.

Hundreds of business leaders and investors, including representatives of US private capital and sovereign wealth funds, will attend the event in the City of London, as the government tries to drum up billions of pounds in foreign investment to fund its plans.

The event is seen by Downing Street as an attempt to reset Sir Keir’s premiership after a faltering first 100 days mired in rows about his advisers and acceptance of freebies.

As well as losing for now a £1bn investment in the UK’s key strategic infrastructure, the apparent lack of coordination between ministers will again focus attention on the competence of government operations.

It is understood the decision to pull the announcement and review an investment that has been in negotiations for months was made personally by DP World’s chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.

He had been due to attend the Investment Summit on Monday, but will now not travel to London.

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Mr Sulayem has previously refused to apologise for P&O’s actions, saying the summary sackings were a decision made by local management and ultimately ensured the survival of the company and thousands of jobs that were retained.

The £1bn investment was intended to expand the London Gateway facility, adding two new berths to the four that already exist and a second rail terminal. The expansion would have seen it become the UK’s largest port by volume.

DP World generated global revenues of almost £14bn in 2023 and operates in more than 60 countries. It has already invested £2bn in London Gateway, and also owns and operates Southampton’s container port.

A DP World spokesman told Sky News: “The investment is under review.”

Responding to Sky’s story, shadow science secretary Andrew Griffith said: “This is further evidence that Angela Rayner may have two jobs but she’s costing other people theirs.

“It is not surprising that when you take union laws back to the strike-hit 70s, that the UK becomes less investable. It’s not canapés at summits that sway investors, it’s having a sensible environment to do business.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hailed next week’s summit when he was quizzed about Sky’s story on Friday.

When asked if his cabinet members had cost the country investment, he replied: “In the last I think four weeks we’ve had at least five or six huge investments in the UK, including £24bn today.

“We’ve got a massive investment budget, summit coming up on Monday where leading investors from across the globe are all coming, to the UK.

“This is very, very good for the country, very, very good for the future of jobs. It’s just the sort of change that we need to see.”

Steve Rotheram, the Labour mayor of the Liverpool City Region, defended the criticism of P&O, saying that while the UK needed as “much investment in this country as possible”, he had “very little sympathy with a company that sacks its workforce”.

“You can’t just fire and rehire,” he told Sky News. “You can’t just sack workers – there are protections in this country for everybody.”

The foot of a British adventurer is believed to have been found on Mount Everest after 100 years of speculation about his disappearance.

Andrew “Sandy” Irvine was the youngest member of the 1924 Mount Everest expedition and was lost on the upper slopes of the mountain with George Mallory when the two vanished on 8 June that year.

Mr Irvine, 22, and Mr Mallory, 38, were last seen when they were about 800 feet from the summit as they attempted the first successful ascent of the mountain.

The mystery of whether the duo reached the top before their disappearance has been debated by climbers and historians for decades.

There have also been several searches for Mr Irvine’s remains after Mr Mallory’s were discovered by a climber in 1999.

In the latest development, a foot encased inside a sock and a boot was discovered on the Central Rongbuk Glacier below the North Face of Everest by a team funded by National Geographic Documentary Films for an upcoming documentary.

Crucially the sock is embroidered with the name “AC Irvine”.

The finding is the first possible proof of Mr Irvine’s death since the ill-fated 1924 expedition on the 8,849-metre mountain.

The Irvine family has volunteered to compare DNA test results with the remains to confirm his identity.

The foot was found at a lower altitude than Mr Mallory’s remains, which are now in the possession of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association.

The discovery was reported to the Royal Geographical Society – who jointly organised Mr Mallory and Mr Irvine’s expedition along with the Alpine Club.

Jimmy Chin, a National Geographic Explorer who was a member of the climb team that discovered the foot, said: “Sometimes in life, the greatest discoveries occur when you aren’t even looking.

“This was a monumental and emotional moment for us and our entire team on the ground, and we just hope this can finally bring peace of mind to his relatives and the climbing world at large.”

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Irvine’s great-niece and biographer, Julie Summers, said she had been “moved to tears” when she found out about the discovery.

“I have lived with this story since I was a seven-year-old when my father told us about the mystery of Uncle Sandy on Everest,” she said.

“The story became more real when climbers found the body of George Mallory in 1999, and I wondered if Sandy’s body would be discovered next.

“A quarter-of-a-century after that discovery, it seemed extremely unlikely that anything new would be found.

“When Jimmy told me that he saw the name AC Irvine on the label on the sock inside the boot, I found myself moved to tears. It was and will remain an extraordinary and poignant moment.”

Professor Joe Smith, director of the Royal Geographical Society, said of the discovery: “As joint organiser of the 1924 Everest expedition (with the Alpine Club), the society deeply appreciates the respect Jimmy Chin’s team has shown Sandy Irvine’s remains and their sensitivity toward Sandy’s family members and others connected to that expedition.

“Sandy was an exceptional figure and made a significant contribution to our understanding of Everest and the Himalaya.”

An Irvine family statement said: “We are grateful to the mountaineering and film team, led by Jimmy Chin, who made the discovery and who have treated it with respect and professionalism.”

A woman has been jailed after murdering both her parents and living with their bodies in the family home for four years.

Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John, 70, with prescription medication, before stabbing her mother Lois, 71, in the chest at their home in Chelmsford, Essex.

Their deaths happened sometime in June 2019 – but their bodies were not discovered until 2023 after their GP raised concerns about missed appointments.

In that time McCullough had hidden their remains and continued to live there, building a “makeshift tomb” for her father – while telling friends and neighbours that they had moved away, were unwell, or had gone on lengthy trips.

She was sentenced to a life term, with a minimum of 36 years, after pleading guilty to two counts of murder at Chelmsford Crown Court in July.

‘Cheer up, at least you caught the bad guy’

The 36-year-old confessed “moments after” police were called to the family home – following the report from the GP.

Bodycam footage of the arrest showed police forcing entry to the property before confronting McCullough in a hallway.

She calmly told officers she would “co-operate” before they went to another part of the house, where she said, “my dad’s body is in there”.

An officer then asked: “What about your mum?”

McCullough calmly replied: “[That’s] a little bit more complicated… upstairs there are about five wardrobes, it’s behind the bed at the back, next to the sink. It’s the second one.”

In reference to the arrest, she told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually. It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”

She added: “Cheer up, at least you caught the bad guy.”

McCullough later told officers where the murder weapon was.

Apparently referencing the knife she used to stab her mum, she said: “It’s in the middle underneath the stairs, it will still have blood on it, it’s rusted, but it will still have blood traces on it.”

‘Homemade mausoleum’

Prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC told the court that McCullough “built a makeshift tomb” for her father, which was “covered with multiple blankets, and a number of pictures and paintings over the top”.

It was also described in court as a “homemade mausoleum”, and was in a ground floor room which had been her father’s bedroom and study, “composed with masonry blocks stacked together”.

McCullough “concealed the body of her mother, wrapped in a sleeping bag, within a wardrobe in her mother’s bedroom on the top floor of the property,” the barrister said.

McCullough was remanded in custody until she appeared in court earlier this year.

Locals in the area had described her as “chatty” but a “little bit odd”.

Detective Inspector Lydia George, of Essex Police, said after her guilty pleas it had been a “hugely complex investigation“.

“Officers were met with an incredibly challenging scene and worked at the address over the course of several days to carry out forensic enquiries,” she said.

“Virginia’s actions have had a significant and emotional impact on the family group and our thoughts today are first and foremost with them.”

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