One of the world's largest chemical manufacturers is diverting all investment in Britain to the US in a protest over Labour's tax raid on oil and gas producers.
Ineos, the energy empire owned by Manchester United Football Club investor Jim Ratcliffe, plans to plough £3billion into America after turning its back on the UK.
It says the move is due to high costs including the windfall tax, a levy on oil companies making massive profits thanks to the global high price of energy.
Brian Gilvary, chief executive of Ineos' energy division, said yesterday: 'We have stopped investing in Britain. Our future investment will not be [in] the UK. There's no question of that.'
And Mr Gilvary said the company 'cannot invest with any certainty because we can't be sure what future tax rates will be'.
