{"id":3357,"date":"2020-12-22T08:57:25","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T08:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=142126"},"modified":"2020-12-22T08:57:25","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T08:57:25","slug":"brexit-billionaires-and-the-little-people-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/22\/brexit-billionaires-and-the-little-people-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Brexit, Billionaires and the Little People"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Capitalism and patriotism do not share the same stable. When those in the business of accumulating profits suggest a love for flag and country, be wary. Wars might take place and trade agreements struck by governments, but the capitalist will go for the market that matters, whatever the flag.<\/p>\n

A recent exponent of this proposition is Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a billionaire who was a strong advocate for Britain leaving the European Union. In approaching negotiations with the EU after the referendum result, he had an instruction<\/a> to Britain\u2019s diplomats: \u201cWe must listen, we must be unwaveringly polite and retain our charm. But there is no room for weakness or crumpling at 3am when the going gets tough and when most points are won or lost.\u201d He praised Britain\u2019s \u201cdecent set of cards\u201d: London as a key financial centre; companies such as Mercedes continuing to sell cars in the country.<\/p>\n

This sentiment was echoed by other wealthy British billionaires who simply assumed that the consequences of a UK exit from the EU were going to be minor ripples rather than a massive shake. It was the sort of advice given by occupants of mansions and gilded penthouses, gradually ossifying with time. Lord Anthony Bamford, Chairman of JCB and Construction Equipment, claimed<\/a> from his summit of comfort that \u201cEuropean markets are important to many UK businesses, including JCB, and this will not change.\u201d The UK, being the \u201cworld\u2019s fifth largest trading nation\u201d had \u201clittle to fear from leaving the EU.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ditto the Barclay twins Sir David and Sir Frederick and John Caudwell, founder of Phones4u. Caudwell remains dogmatically convinced that the EU was thieving from Britons, claiming<\/a> that the \u201cBrussels Bully Boys\u201d had benefited \u201cby \u00a380 billion in trade benefit in trading with Britain,\u201d plundered the UK\u2019s fishing waters and obtained \u201c\u00a38 billion in net value from the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the Brexit vote in 2016, Ratcliffe\u2019s business mind initially turned to the Union Jack and all matters Britannic. He had hoped to build the Grenadier off-roader, inspired by the original Land Rover Defender, at a new plant at Bridgend in south Wales. To do so showed, according<\/a> to Ratcliffe, \u201ca significant expression of confidence in British manufacturing\u201d. It also showed a leap of faith on his part, given how he had made his previous fortune. As he told<\/a> the Times<\/em> in September 2017, \u201cMaybe it\u2019s a little bit arrogant for a chemical company to think it can produce a world class 4\u00d74 but I think we can have confidence we can manufacture things.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Sir Jim, with fine arrogance, was sniffing for other options, as have many firms who have been relocating, closing, and hacking through staff. In July, Ratcliffe\u2019s Ineos Automotive began negotiations to purchase Mercedes-Benz\u2019s Hambach site in Moselle. He was all praise<\/a> for the facility and the workforce, which he considered \u201cworld-class\u201d. His company had \u201cset out a vision to build the world\u2019s best utilitarian 4\u00d74, and at our new home in Hambach, we will do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Welsh Labour MP for Ogmore, Chris Elmore, was unimpressed<\/a> by the extolling of French expertise at the expense of a British workforce. \u201cThe highly-skilled and dedicated workforce in Ogmore, Bridgend and surrounding areas would have risen to the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sir James Dyson, despite being warm for his country\u2019s EU departure, has also given Brexiteers a false sense of Making Britain Great Again. In September 2017, the inventor revealed<\/a> his dreams to employees that \u201cwe\u2019ve begun work on a battery electric vehicle, due to launch in 2020.\u201d In immodest terms, this would become something like a European Tesla.<\/p>\n

Such optimism began to sour. First came an epiphany on where the cars would be manufactured. In October 2018, Dyson abandoned RAF Hullavington as a production site for the proposed cars, preferring Singapore. Twelve months later, staff were informed that, despite developing \u201ca fantastic electric car,\u201d the project had not proved to be \u201ccommercially viable.\u201d That same year, it became clear to all that Singapore was his new love, with reports<\/a> that Dyson had spent $54.24 million on purchasing the small state\u2019s most expensive penthouse at Guoco Tower.<\/p>\n

Dyson had also taken a shine to Singapore\u2019s company tax arrangements. Chief executive for Dyson\u2019s company Jim Rowan suggested that the decision had little to with Brexit or even that thorny issue of tax. He preferred using a hideous term to cover the obvious: \u201cfuture-proofing\u201d. The billionaire was merely being prudent. But Rowan also tellingly revealed<\/a> that Dyson should not be considered a British entity so much as a \u201cglobal technology company.\u201d Patriotism could sod it.<\/p>\n

Not to be outdone on the issue of tax, Ratcliffe has also made a critical move on preserving his earnings. Just to show how bound up he feels to his fellow Britons, the Ineos boss has also changed his tax domicile. Brexit Britain will no longer be receiving tax revenue from a man whose wealth is valued at \u00a317.5 billion. His move to Monaco will save him<\/a>, and lose the UK government, \u00a34 billion. Patriotic he might claim to be, but certainly not when it comes to his wallet. As Jonathan Freedland caustically observes<\/a>, such figures are part of \u201ca Brexiteer elite who believe that the pain of Brexit is for the little people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair Capitalism and patriotism do not share the same stable. When those in the business of accumulating profits suggest a love for flag and\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3358,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357\/revisions\/3358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}