Billionaire threatens to pull out of UK because of Sunak's 'clickbait' climate policies

A billionaire investor has threatened to pull out of the UK thanks to prime minister Rishi Sunak's "clickbait" climate policies.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Andrew Forrest, an Australian investor in green technologies, accused the prime minister of being on a “clickbait cycle” after the government announced it was issuing hundreds of new licenses to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea.

Forrest said: “If I see this country steering itself over a cliff backing fossil fuel, I’m going to start pulling out.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

“I’ll push my investments over to North America. I’ll of course say the same thing to other countries. I must invest where I know I have proper leadership, not leadership which is on a clickbait cycle.”

It comes after Sunak announced the expansion of North Sea drilling yesterday, saying hundreds of new oil and gas licences will be granted off the coast of Scotland to "boost British energy independence" and "reduce reliance on hostile states".

Sunak said: "We have all witnessed how Putin has manipulated and weaponised energy - disrupting supply and stalling growth in countries around the world.

"Now more than ever, it's vital that we bolster our energy security and capitalise on that independence to deliver more affordable, clean energy to British homes and businesses.

But the plan has been slammed by those concerned about climate change and the Labour Party has proposed a block on all domestic new oil and gas drilling as part of its strategy to achieve zero-carbon electricity by 2030.

In a separate interview with POLITICO, Forrest added: "’I'm investing hundreds of millions of pounds in Britain to build up your technology and to build up your expertise.

“That’s at the cutting edge of battery technology, battery intelligence, everything the world needs which will make Britain relevant.”

But he added: “I cannot invest in a country which is basically denying global warming and putting its faith in a failed ‘wait for the next idiot to come along’ solution called CCS [carbon capture scheme].”

And we thought Tories were meant to be friends of billionaires, not enemies.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.