Education secretary Bridget Phillipson torched Sir Jim Ratcliffe for his comments claiming that the United Kingdom is “on the slide.”
Over the weekend, billionaire Ratcliffe made headlines after he returned to one of his favourite past times, talking down the UK.
Speaking to the BBC, Ratcliffe, who upped sticks to move to the tax-free principality of Monaco in 2020, told the BBC that he believed the UK is “on the slide.”
He put the blame on politicians for not being “tough enough” on issues such as immigration and hit out at the government for high taxes.
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The Ineos founder said: “Unfortunately at the moment, I think the UK is on the slide, it’s quite difficult to see how we arrest it”.
Ratcliffe’s comments have been given short shrift by many given that the so-called patriot would rather hoard his wealth in Monaco than pay tax and contribute to society. This is before we even get on to the fact that he was a staunch Brexiteer.
One of those to make this point was education secretary Bridget Phillipson.
During an appearance on Laura Kuenssberg’s Sunday morning programme, the Labour minister said she would take Ratcliffe’s comments with a “pinch of salt,” labelling him a “tax exile.”
“You’ll forgive if I do take with a pinch of salt what someone who is a tax exile has to say about our country,” she said,.
“I am optimistic about our country’s prospects,” the minister continued, while acknowledging there are challenges such as international headwinds in reference to the ongoing Iran war.
“But I fundamentally believe we are in a strong position going into this Budget because of decisions taken over the last two years and I believe our country’s best days lie ahead of us.”
Phillipson was then asked about comments on social media from Treasury minister Torsten Bell, who said Ratcliffe was an example of the right having a “massive patriotism problem.”
Bell said Ratcliffe “hates his own country” and highlighted the billionaire’s hypocrisy for lamenting the “hit to manufacturing driven by a Brexit he supported.”
Phillipson backed up her Labour colleague, saying Ratcliffe ‘loses the moral high ground’ by “making these kinds of pronouncements while choosing to make decisions to become a tax exile.”
“He was also someone, as I understand it, who was a big supporter of Brexit,” she said.
“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.”