Richard Branson says he’ll cut UK investments if government pushes ahead with Brexit
Ahead of launch of Virgin flights between Hong Kong and Melbourne, the entrepreneur says it ‘doesn’t make sense’ to pour money into a country that is harming itself and there are plenty of other opportunities out there
Richard Branson, one of Britain’s most successful and iconic entrepreneurs, said he’ll cut the investments in the United Kingdom by his Virgin Group of companies if the government pushes ahead with its plan to leave the European Union.
Underscoring his frustration at the British referendum to leave the EU, known as Brexit, the self-made billionaire said investing in a country that was harming itself “doesn’t make sense”.
“It doesn’t make sense to invest in a country that is going to self-inflict itself, and there are plenty of other opportunities around the world,” the 66-year-old entrepreneur said in an interview with the South China Morning Post, a day before arriving in Hong Kong on an inaugural Virgin Australia flight from Melbourne. “We’ll carry on investing in the UK but we won’t be investing as much if Brexit goes ahead.”
The frustrations of the knighted entrepreneur, who’s widely admired in his home country, underscores how the hotly contested June 2016 referendum on Britain’s place in the EU has divided the country, with 51.9 per cent of eligible voters choosing to leave the 28-member union.
Brexit proponents said it was all about the UK “taking back control” of its own destiny, making its own laws and decisions, whereas opponents warned jobs, economic growth and investment would be placed at risk.