Andy Burnham has hit back at billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe for talking Britain down with doom-laden warnings about the rich quitting the UK.
The Prime Minister rubbished Sir Jim’s claim that “Britain is on the slide” and said people could be hopeful that better times lie ahead. Sir Jim, who left the UK in 2018 to be a tax exile in Monaco, said at the weekend that the UK was in decline as he complained the UK’s attitude to wealth was driving the mega-rich to leave the country.
Mr Burnham hit back, telling reporters travelling to New York: “I hear people saying the country is on the slide. We’re the fastest growing [economy] in the G7. There’s lots to be proud of, there’s a lot right with the country and I’m going to give a really upbeat message when I speak [today].
“We can be hopeful about where we’re going, we can draw a line under the last decade and say this next one’s going to be different, and it is going to be different.”
(Image: Nick Potts/PA Wire)
