"I've lost confidence in the UK," Man United owner Ratcliffe says
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| Sir Jim Ratcliffe (British engineer and businessman) |
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain's wealthiest individuals, says he has lost confidence in the UK, describing the country as "on the slide".
The founder of petrochemical giant Ineos, who also holds a large stake in Manchester United, attributed the decline to a combination of high taxes and high immigration.
Speaking to the BBC, he said the failure to invest further in North Sea oil and gas amounted to "insanity". He warned that gas storage was so low that the UK could "run out of gas" if there is a cold snap this winter.
Responding to the billionaire's criticism, the government said it is working to deliver growth and that business investment has risen over the past two years. A spokesperson said they did not foresee any problems with gas supply: "We have a diverse energy mix and are confident in our security of supply."
Sir Jim, whose wealth is estimated at around £15bn, has courted controversy in the past with his remarks on immigration. He supported Brexit but has been a tax resident in Monaco since 2020.
His departure from the UK has since been followed by other high-profile billionaires, including steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and, most recently, hedge-fund boss Chris Rokos.
Sir Jim said the politics of envy was driving people away from the UK.
"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 that for him to return to the UK "things would have to get better".
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged a "pragmatic approach" to oil and gas. However, one of the biggest decisions facing the government, whether to approve further development of the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields, remains unresolved.
Sir Jim criticised the delay and suggested that high taxes on North Sea operators were threatening the sector's viability. Reforms to the tax on energy company profits are under way but will not be fully implemented until 2030.
Ineos operates the Forties pipeline, which carries about 30% of the UK's North Sea oil.
"You would expect [the government] to exploit our natural resources and we're clearly not doing that. We're shutting it down.
"If you tax everybody to death, they're all going to leave. And that's what's happening."
Recent climate data and record heatwaves have strengthened the case against further fossil fuel exploitation. Even so, political pressure on the government has grown to approve Rosebank and Jackdaw in order to support jobs, tax revenues and energy security.
Sir Jim backed those calls, saying it was "absurd" to import more energy than necessary.
The government spokesperson said oil and gas would continue to play an important role in the UK "for decades to come", but added: "The transition to homegrown clean power is the only way to deliver energy and financial security for families and businesses."
Sir Jim warned that low gas storage levels in Europe posed a risk to the UK in the months ahead.
"If we have a really sharp cold spell, then there is conceivably the possibility that we'll run out of gas and have to switch industry off... our storage is not full," he said.
The UK does not typically store large volumes of gas, relying instead on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gas imports from Europe.
Energy consultancy Cornwall Insight said gas storage levels in the EU currently stand at about 69%, compared with a typical 85% at this time of year.
However, Adam Bell of consultancy Stonehaven said supplies were unlikely to run short.
"We are down compared to where we normally would be but not what I'd regard as catastrophic," he said.
"The physical risk of running out of gas is relatively low, especially if Jackdaw gets the go ahead."
He said the main source of uncertainty was policy in the US, which supplies LNG to the UK.
Sir Jim was speaking in Denmark at the launch of the EU's first carbon capture and storage (CCS) system. Ineos has invested in the scheme, which is subsidised by the Danish government and the EU.
He said he had hoped to develop CCS in the UK but that government support had been insufficient.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said the government had committed £21.7bn to CCS projects over 25 years, although no projects are yet operational in the UK.
At the project in Esbjerg, in south-west Denmark, carbon captured from around the country arrives in large zeppelin-like tanks before being transferred to a ship called Carbon Destroyer 1. It is then pumped into a depleted oil field nearly 200 miles offshore.
Critics argue that CCS is expensive and that the money would be better spent on renewables rather than on sustaining fossil fuel use.
Sir Jim's criticism of the UK extends beyond energy and tax policy. He said the country had once been "a fantastic place".
"We had the greatest empire in the world. We were a great people. We won two world wars," he said.
He said, however, that immigration and welfare spending were both currently too high and that politicians had been reluctant to address either.
"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.
Earlier this year, he sparked controversy by saying the UK had been "colonised by immigrants". He later apologised for "offending some people".
