It comes after the Manchester United owner – one of Britain’s richest men who moved to Monaco in 2020 – came under fire after claiming the country is ‘on the slide’
Man United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said he had ‘no confidence in UK’(Image: Nick Potts/PA Wire)
A senior cabinet minister has dismissed billionaire “tax exile” Sir Jim Ratcliffe after he saying he had “no confidence in the UK”.
It comes after the Manchester United owner – one of Britain’s richest men who moved to Monaco in 2020 – came under fire over the weekend after claiming the country is “on the slide”.
The 73-year-old founder of petrochemical giant Ineos also said the UK had a “bit of a green eye towards wealth at the moment”, “encouraging” the wealthiest to relocate. He also hit out at the “immigration problem” and welfare spending.
Bridget Phillipson, the Labour Party chair and Cabinet minister, told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “Of course we want to see a successful economy that involves supporting our businesses to deliver the very best.
“But you’ll forgive me if I do take with a pinch of salt what someone who is a tax exile has to say about our country. I am optimistic about our country’s prospects.
“Of course there are challenges, including big international headwinds, but I fundamentally believe we are in a strong position going into this Budget because of the decisions taken over the last two years and I believe our country’s best days lie ahead of us.”
Ms Phillipson, the Women and Equalities minister, added: “I do think you lose the moral high ground in the argument you make, Jim Ratcliffe, that is, by making these kinds of pronouncements while choosing to make decisions that he is within his rights to make to become a tax exile.
“And of course, he was also someone, as I understand it, who was a big supporter of Brexit.
“That was over a decade ago now, but we’ve seen the impact of Brexit on our economy, and that’s why this Government is committed to making sure we do have a better trading relationship with the European Union, which will be a central part of how we make sure we do see stronger growth.”
In an interview with the BBC last week, Sir Jim said: “I think the UK, unfortunately, it was a fantastic place. We had the greatest empire in the world. We were a great people. We won two world wars. We’re good, honest folk.
“But unfortunately, at the moment, I think the UK is on the slide. It’s quite difficult to see how we arrest it. Two things: we need politicians who are tough enough to deal with some very difficult problems, and we know what the problems are.
“And we need politicians who will make decisions which are good for the country, not good for themselves and their party. And we haven’t had one of those for a long time.”
