UK's richest man and Brexit supporter is leaving the country and people aren't impressed

Since the EU referendum in 2016, as Brexit negotiations on either side of the channel have become gradually more chaotic, there is the eerie feeling that Brexit is becoming a sinking ship.

Although everyone might be divided on whether Brexit is a good idea, most people can agree that it’s turning out to be very different to what people were promised before entering the polling booth two years ago.

One factor that feeds into the narrative that Brexit is going to be a disaster is the fact that so many of its prominent supporters keep leaving the UK, or making plans to leave.

After supporting Brexit, Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has announced plans to move to Monaco. The 65-year-old who is the CEO of the chemical firm Ineos and has an estimated fortune of £21 billion. He said during the 2016 referendum that he believed Britain would prosper outside of the European Union but isn’t sticking around after Brexit. Doesn’t that sound familiar?

The Sunday Timesreports that Ratcliffe has been working with accountant PwC on a “tax avoidance plan” which will see him depriving the UK economy of between £400m and £4bn. Because nothing says patriotism like moving abroad to pay less tax, right?

Given so many other high profile cases of Brexiteers, such as Dyson founder James Dyson, announcing plans to move their businesses abroad, the internet wasn’t impressed with the news that Ratcliffe will be sunning it up in Monaco while the impact of Brexit hits the UK.

HT: Sunday Times

More: Brexiteer James Dyson is moving his company to Singapore and everyone is making the same point