The business tycoon has joined the former PM’s call for Britain to rejoin the EU
Richard Branson has launched an attack on Brexit (Image: Getty)
Brexiteers hit back at Sir Richard Branson after he branded the UK’s departure from the EU an “unmitigated disaster”. The Virgin Group founder claimed the 2016 Brexit vote was an “unprecedented act of economic and political self-harm”.
The billionaire, who backed Remain in the referendum and has lived in the Caribbean for much of the last two decades, insisted voters should be given a “second chance” to decide whether to be in the club. His intervention comes after Sir Tony Blair’s think tank called for the UK to rejoin Brussels within a decade.
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Sir Tony Blair’s think tank is pushing for Britain to rejoin Brussels (Image: Getty)
But Tory MP Dame Priti Patel warned against looking back at Brussels “with rose-tinted glasses”.
She told the Daily Express: “Britain needs leadership that is committed to making the most of our Brexit freedoms rather than this constant desire to fight the battles of 2016 and the bitterness of losing the arguments back then.
“Too many still view the EU with rose-tinted glasses, since we’ve left, the EU has suffered from slow growth.
“Its institutions have failed to meet the challenges the world faces today and it continues to suffer from a lack of democratic legitimacy with more powers being centralised in Brussels away from national governments and parliaments.
“If Britain had never left the EU, we’d be paying even more in, getting less out and feeling the weight of more red tape. “
Vote Leave co-founder and Tory peer Lord Matthew Elliott added: “The UK has grown faster than France, Germany and Italy since leaving the EU.
“This is partly because our tech sector is so much stronger, because it’s not embroiled in the EU’s AI Act.
“We shouldn’t be complacent – we could be growing a lot faster – but that’s down to taxation being at a 70-year high, not Brexit.”
In a post on LinkedIn, Sir Richard compared the Brexit vote to swapping an F1 car for a hatchback.
He added: “As a majority of UK voters now feel regret over the Brexit vote, they must be given a second chance to determine what is in their best interest.”
Andy Burnham has committed to Labour’s red lines on Brexit in its 2024 manifesto, including not returning to the single market, customs union or freedom of movement.
But the PM earlier this week left the door open to including a pledge to rejoin the EU in Labour’s next election manifesto.
Andy Burnham savaged as one in five UK working age adults now on benefits
Critics warn it is “unfair to taxpayers footing the bill” and Britain “can’t afford” it.
Andy Burnham is under pressure to get a grip on the benefits bill. (Image: Getty)
One in five working-age Brits is on universal credit, according to new research. Some 7.3 million people aged between 20 and 64 in England and Wales were receiving the benefit as of May 2026, the analysis by the Taxpayers’ Alliance found.
That includes 3.3 million under 40, with 1.3 million in their 20s. The research showed that 54 council areas have a quarter of the working-age population on benefits, which are for people who are jobless or on a low income to help with living costs.
William Yarwood, campaigns director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “In some places, dependency on universal credit has become endemic.
“Generations are being dumped on benefits: written off and condemned to a life of dependency as ministers make it harder for them to find a job.
“If Andy Burnham was serious about growth in every postcode, he would be making it more affordable to hire young people.”
Councils with the highest proportion of older people on universal credit are concentrated in London, including more than half of those in their 50s and 60s in Tower Hamlets.
Coastal towns such as Thanet, Great Yarmouth and Hartlepool tend to have more younger people on benefits.
Blackpool was the local authority with the largest share of the working-age population claiming universal credit at 35.2%.
Tory shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately warned it is “unfair to taxpayers footing the bill” and that Britain “can’t afford” it.
She added: “I’ve been to benefit hotspots like Blackpool, where welfare has become a way of life. This has to stop. A generation of talent is also being wasted when young people sign up for welfare instead of starting work.
“It’s clear Andy Burnham — like his predecessor — does not have the backbone to reform welfare. He said himself he puts social security before national security.”
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “Three-quarters of the increase in Universal Credit cases since July 2024 is driven by people moving from legacy benefits – a transition started by the previous Government.
“Many people receiving Universal Credit are already in employment, and our reforms will go further to tackle the perverse incentives that discourage work, and we’re investing £3.5 billion in employment support for disabled people and people with long-term conditions.
“We’re putting work and opportunity at the heart of the system, and the final recommendations from the Timms and Milburn Reviews will lay the foundation for sustainable reform.”