ANOTHER British multi-millionaire threatens to quit the UK - blaming Labour tax rises for plunging nation into 'vicious downward death spiral'

Tap a highlight to see why it matters.4 findings

Another British multimillionaire has threatened to quit the UK saying Labour's tax rises have plunged it into 'a vicious downward death spiral'. Andrew Thirkill, one of the UK's richest men, said the country will not be able to stand another five years of a Labour government and that under it 'the more successful you are, the bigger your problems become'. The co-owner and founder of financial services giant Sovereign Life, said to be worth £175million, said millionaires have 'no incentive' to stay in the UK because of Labour's 'tax it, tax it, tax it' mentality.

Mr Thirkill, who co-owns rugby league team Hull FC, also slammed the Government for 'attacking' entrepreneurs and wrote John Healey's first Budget off as 'uninspiring'. 'Under this regime, you think to yourself, what am I doing it for? Because I'm going to just create a problem for my family if I'm successful,' he said. If he quits the UK, he will follow in the footsteps of a string of multi-millionaires who have left British shores because of the Labour government.

Policies including changes to inheritance tax, increases to National Insurance contributions, continued increases in the minimum wage, changes to the business relief and VAT on private school fees have all sent them running for the hills to more business-friendly havens. Over £120bn of individual and family fortunes have left the UK since Labour won the General Election in 2024 according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index which says the number of high net worth individuals quitting has 'rocketed'.

Andrew Thirkill, one of the UK's richest men, said the country will not be able to stand another five years of a Labour government The co-owner of founder of financial services giant Sovereign Life, said to be worth £175million, said millionaires have 'no incentive' to stay in the UK because of Labour's 'tax it, tax it, tax it' mentality It cites Shravin Bharti Mittal, son of Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, who was confirmed to have left Britain for the United Arab Emirates with a $23.3bn (£18.4bn) share of the family fortune just this month, and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal among them.

Mr Mittal, said to be worth more than £15bn, moved his tax residence to Switzerland last November. He now spends most of his time in Dubai. Meanwhile millionaire Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust charity, talked about 'a mass exodus of wealthy individuals for many reasons' when he quit the UK because of London Mayor Sadiq Khan's transport policies. Mr Thirkill said that if Labour continued to 'go down this route of taxing business owners and flattening aspiration like they are doing' and 'destroying people who are working hard – people who want to work hard – and they disappear, the country will be left in an economic mess'. 'We just see nothing but gloom.

It's just tax everything you can get your hands on. Tax it, tax it, tax it. It's demoralising,' Mr Thirkill said today. In an interview with the Telegraph he said the Budget was all 'disincentive' for business owners, adding he would contemplate leaving the UK 'if there's no point being here because it means my wealth can be destroyed'. Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Richard Fuller said 'alarm bells should be ringing in Downing Street' because the 'talent and potential of our country is our greatest resource'.

Warning against piling taxes on people who created wealth, he said Labour needed to 'get a grip' and 'stop discouraging our talent from striving for success and make Britain a country people want to invest in'. Taxpayers' Alliance chief executive John O'Connell warned that for every millionaire the UK loses, it loses thousands in tax, leaving others to foot the 'ballooning welfare bill'. A Treasury spokesman claimed the Budget would 'strengthen the UK's offer to entrepreneurs' with new measures including 'new tax reliefs to help businesses start, scale and stay here, creating jobs, attracting investment and driving growth'.

Read the original article on dailymail.com

What we found (4)

The Daily Mail states in its own voice that a string of multi-millionaires left because of the Labour government and that its tax policies sent them running, though its own examples include a man who left over London transport policy. Its headline hardens one businessman's conditional words about leaving into a threat to quit. Every quoted voice opposes the tax changes, and the Treasury gets one closing sentence introduced with 'claimed'.

States one side's claim as fact
Serious
“who have left British shores because of the Labour government”
Why this matters
The Mail states in its own voice that 'a string of multi-millionaires' left 'because of the Labour government', with no attribution.
The impression it gives
A reader takes it as established that the government caused these departures.
The context
The article's only source for departures, Bloomberg, is cited for the number of people leaving, not for why they left. Its own examples do not fit: Lakshmi Mittal is reported as moving his tax residence with no reason given, and Sir Peter Lampl left over Sadiq Khan's transport policies, not the Labour government.
How we know
- Elsewhere in the article“according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index which says the number of high net worth individuals quitting has 'rocketed'”
- Elsewhere in the article“when he quit the UK because of London Mayor Sadiq Khan's transport policies”
- Elsewhere in the article“moved his tax residence to Switzerland last November”
Show it in the article
“have all sent them running for the hills to more business-friendly havens”
Why this matters
The Mail lists five policies and says in its own voice that they 'have all sent them running for the hills'.
The impression it gives
A reader believes each of these policies is a proven cause of wealthy people leaving.
The context
The article quotes no one who left saying any of these policies drove them out. The only departure with a stated reason in the article is Lampl's, and that reason is London transport policy.
How we know
- Elsewhere in the article“because of London Mayor Sadiq Khan's transport policies”
Show it in the article
Written straight
Several multi-millionaires have left the UK since Labour took office. Mr Thirkill and Conservative critics blame its tax changes, while Bloomberg says the number of wealthy people leaving has risen.
Headline goes beyond the article
Minor
“ANOTHER British multi-millionaire threatens to quit the UK”
Why this matters
The headline says Andrew Thirkill 'threatens to quit the UK', in capitals and with 'ANOTHER'.
The impression it gives
A reader takes it that Mr Thirkill has announced he will leave Britain unless policy changes.
The context
The only words from him on leaving are conditional: he 'would contemplate leaving the UK' if there were no point being here. That is a man weighing a possibility, not a threat to quit.
How we know
- Elsewhere in the article“he would contemplate leaving the UK 'if there's no point being here because it means my wealth can be destroyed'”
Show it in the article
“has threatened to quit the UK”
Why this matters
The opening line repeats 'has threatened to quit the UK' in the outlet's own voice.
The impression it gives
The body confirms what the headline said: a threat has been made.
The context
The body's own report of his words is that he 'would contemplate leaving'. The opening line hardens that before the reader reaches it.
How we know
- Elsewhere in the article“he would contemplate leaving the UK”
Show it in the article
Uses a loaded word
Minor
“A Treasury spokesman claimed”
Why this matters
The Mail gives the government's response with 'claimed', while critics 'said' or 'warned'.
The impression it gives
A reader is cued to doubt the Treasury and to take the critics' warnings as sound.
The context
Richard Fuller 'said' and the Taxpayers' Alliance 'warned'. Nothing in the article makes the Treasury's statement less reliable than theirs.
How we know
- Elsewhere in the article“John O'Connell warned that for every millionaire the UK loses”
- Elsewhere in the article“Richard Fuller said 'alarm bells should be ringing in Downing Street'”
Show it in the article
One side gets the space
Minor
“warned that for every millionaire the UK loses, it loses thousands in tax, leaving others to foot the 'ballooning welfare bill'”
Why this matters
After Mr Thirkill and a Conservative shadow minister, the Mail adds the Taxpayers' Alliance as a third voice against the tax changes.
The impression it gives
A reader meets critics in almost every sentence and the government's case only once, in the last line.
The context
Every quoted voice opposes the tax changes. The Treasury's case gets one sentence at the end, and no economist or other source assesses whether the departures are linked to the tax changes.
How we know
- Elsewhere in the article“strengthen the UK's offer to entrepreneurs”
Show it in the article

Spot something we missed? Report this article

More from Daily Mail

Everything we scored from Daily Mail

ANOTHER British multi-millionaire threatens to quit the UK - blaming Labour tax rises for plunging nation into 'vicious downward death spiral'

States one side's claim as fact

Headline goes beyond the article

Uses a loaded word

One side gets the space

More from Daily Mail