Ministers were first told about P&O’s decision to sack staff on Wednesday night. It is a major embarrassment for Mr Johnson and comes just hours after he visited the United Arab Emirates to discuss increasing oil production.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World chairman and chief executive, attacked the UK Government shortly after pandemic restrictions brought the P&O’s operations to a standstill.

“The Government has been slow. We need to safeguard these jobs – a lot of people’s lives depend on this company,” he said.

He appealed for £150m of UK taxpayer support just weeks after DP World paid a £270m dividend to investors, the largest being the Dubai state with an 80pc shareholding.

At the time A DP World spokesman told the Guardian the dividends related “to a delisting process, which was announced pre-Covid-19 and which DP World is legally obliged to pay”.

Last week, DP World, which also runs ports and cargo logistics, proposed paying a $275m (£210m) dividend after posting a strong set of financial results in 2021. DP World said on Thursday that it had not received a dividend from P&O.

During the pandemic P&O furloughed 1,400 of its staff, at a cost of £10m to the British taxpayer. P&O said its survival was dependent on “making swift and significant changes now”.

“We have made a £100m loss year on year, which has been covered by our parent DP World. This is not sustainable. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “It just makes my blood boil. It is a complete betrayal of the workforce. It’s just disgusting.

“This is a company that had furlough [money] during the Covid crisis. It is absolutely disgusting what they are trying to do. They mustn’t be allowed to get away with it.

The shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said: “It is beneath contempt. The action of thugs.”