Politics- Prominent
Brexit supporter SirJim Ratcliffe has ditched plans to build Ineos' new range of 4x4 cars in the UK and will now build them in France. - Last September, the billionaire said developing the Grenadier in Britain was a "significant expression of confidence in British manufacturing."
- Ratcliffe said that the French operation was an opportunity "that we simply could not ignore."
- The
news came as Honda announced it will pause production at its UK factory due to a shortage of parts, amid supply issued triggered by COVID restrictions and Brexit.
A billionaire Brexit supporter and Britain's richest man, has announced that his company will build its new Grenadier cars in France after previously promising to build them in Wales.
In September last year, Sir Jim Ratcliffe who owns Ineos, the major chemicals company, announced plans to set up a factory in Bridgend, Wales and build the cars there, saying "the decision to build in the UK is a significant expression of confidence in British manufacturing, which has always been at the heart of what Ineos stands for."
The new factory was expected to create around 500 jobs in the area, which has recently been hit by the closure of a Ford plant that employed 1,700 people. The Grenadier is based on the original Land Rover, an iconic British car.
However, Ratcliffe, who Bloomberg last year estimated to be worth around £17.5 billion, this week said that he had changed his mind and opted to build the 4x4 vehicle at a former Mercedes-Benz factory in Moselle, eastern France.
"Hambach [the factory] presented us with a unique opportunity that we simply could not ignore: to buy a modern automotive manufacturing facility with a world-class workforce," Ratcliffe said in a statement.
"Ineos Automotive set out a vision to build the world's best utilitarian 4x4, and at our new home in Hambach, we will do just that."
The news came as Honda announced it will pause production at its UK factory due to a shortage of parts, amid serious supply issued triggered by COVID restrictions and Brexit.
Chris Elmore, the Labour Member of Parliament for Ogmore, tweeted that Ratcliffe's decision was a "hammer blow" for the affected areas of Wales.
"That Brexit is clearly a major factor at play is a bitter pill to swallow. Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was a vocal Brexiteer, loudly proclaiming the benefits of leaving the EU. Today, we can see his claims are as hollow as his promises," he said.
Ed Miliband, the Labour Party's Shadow Business Secretary, said: "It's crushing news the Grenadier car will now be built in France rather than Bridgend, especially following the closure of Ford's plant leading to scores of highly-skilled jobs lost.
"Boris Johnson's dithering, delay, and failure to deliver appears to have led to the loss of two major employers in the area - and it's devastating that communities in Wales will pay the price of his incompetence.
"It's also a big betrayal of the promises made by the Conservatives during the election to deliver jobs and investment in Bridgend."
Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrats' business spokesperson, said Ratcliffe's decision "is just the latest episode of rank hypocrisy from those who told us that leaving the EU would be good for our country."
She said: "This decision will be devastating to the hundreds of workers who are now set to lose work just ahead of Christmas and in the middle of the deepest recession in a generation."
Ratcliffe was a prominent campaigner for Britain to leave the
Speaking about Brexit in May last year, he said: "We can thrive as an independent nation, we don't need people in Europe telling us how to manage our country."
In September, it emerged that Ratcliffe had left the UK to live in Monaco, where people who live there for at least 183 days a year are except from income and property tax. His decision to move was to set save him around £4 billion in tax payments, according to The Guardian newspaper.