Britain’s billionaires see profits soar during pandemic while poorest may see wage rise scrapped
Chancellor Rishi Sunak (L) and prime minister Boris Johnson leave 10 Downing Street - Credit: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Britain's billionaires have seen their fortunes soar since lockdown, despite the economy entering recession, and the Treasury reportedly scrapping plans for a minimum wage rise next year.
The value of fortunes for 53 of the UK's billionaires leapt by 14.3% (£26.3 billion) to approximately £211 billion over the past six months, data from Forbes shows.
Since lockdown began the FTSE 100 index of the UK's largest firms has risen more than 17.2% while the US shares are up more than 54%.
Richard Branson, despite calling for a bailout of his airline and others, saw his net worth grow £3.3 billion due to the rising value of shares in Virgin Galactic.
Brexiteer boss of the Ineos chemicals group Jim Ratcliffe saw his fortune increase by half to £13.6 billion after converting part of his business to produce hand sanitiser.
Mike Ashley, the boss of Sports Direct - accused of profiteering during the pandemic, saw his fortune increase by 22.3% to £2.5 billion.
You may also want to watch:
Forbes suggests none of the British billionaires in its list saw their fortunes drop as a result of the coronavirus.
That is despite the UK entering a recession in August for the first time in 11 years.
Most Read
- 1 Susanna Reid takes on Priti Patel over government's gaslighting of public on coronavirus
- 2 Tory minister admits UK rejected EU's music visa offer in order to 'take back control' of borders
- 3 Brexiteer musician accused of hypocrisy after demanding No 10 help bands with EU visa
- 4 PMQs: Ben Bradshaw calls out Boris Johnson over Brexit lies
- 5 Priti Patel fails to appear in Commons to answer questions on missing police records
- 6 Kwasi Kwarteng confirms post-Brexit review of workers' rights
- 7 Piers Morgan calls on Priti Patel to resign over missing crime records fiasco
- 8 Iain Duncan Smith defends calling Donald Trump 'a decent man'
- 9 The bigot we should have called out on day one
- 10 GB News seeks to hire Nick Ferrari and Julia Hartley-Brewer to present on new channel
The gloomy picture has led to reports the Treasury is considering putting an 'emergency break' on the plan for a rise in the minimum wage in April.
Under the proposals the poorest would see minimum wages rise from £8.72 an hour to £9.21.
The Telegraph reports a decision will be made in the Autumn budget, but follows reports from the Low Pay Commission that it believes companies cannot afford having to pay an increased national living wage.
Boris Johnson vowed in the general election to 'level up' the country.
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
