Jim Ratcliffe warns UK is ‘on the slide’ as wealthy residents leave

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of Manchester United and founder of chemicals group Ineos, has warned that Britain is “on the slide”, arguing that high taxes, immigration and hostility towards wealth are encouraging affluent residents to leave.

Ratcliffe, who moved to Monaco and became a tax resident there in 2018, said Britain needed political leaders prepared to confront difficult economic and social issues.

“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.”

Ratcliffe said the UK’s approach to wealthy people contrasted with the US.

“In America they applaud people who create wealth,” he said. “Unfortunately the UK has got a bit of a green eye towards wealth at the moment.”

He said returning to Britain would require “things to get better”.

Ratcliffe also criticised successive governments for failing to tackle immigration and welfare spending.

“Nobody’s tough enough to deal with the immigration problem. Nobody’s tough enough to deal with the benefits problem. But somebody needs to do it,” he said.

The comments come amid debate over the future of North Sea oil and gas. Ratcliffe described a failure to invest in domestic production as “insanity”, warning that the UK could “run out of gas” during a cold winter if storage levels remained inadequate. The government has said it is “confident” in the robustness of Britain’s gas supply.

The remarks also put pressure on Andy Burnham’s government as it weighs decisions on the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields while maintaining its commitment to net zero by 2050.

Ratcliffe said Britain needed politicians who would act in the national interest rather than their own political interests.

“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.”