Britain faces four years of economic pain because the government has made life difficult for businesses following the budget, the co-founder of BrewDog has told Sky News.

James Watt has also suggested the UK is work-shy and only hard graft will lead to prosperity, which is lacking in the country.

It comes on the day Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announces a new review named “Keep Britain Working” in an effort to support people with long-term illnesses or disabilities back into work, while trying to lower the ballooning welfare bill.

The review will be led by former John Lewis chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield at a time when around 3.7 million people of working age receive health-related benefits, which is 1.2 million more than in February 2020.

Britain is now spending more on incapacity and disability benefits (almost £65bn) than defence – and that figure is set to rise.

Mr Watt, who stepped down as BrewDog chief executive last May, made headlines earlier this month after posting a video with fiancee Georgia Toffolo in which they said they do not believe in a “work-life balance”.

He is launching an entrepreneurial competition show named House Of Unicorns in a bid to find a start-up company with a £2m prize.

He said: “I think the Labour government certainly haven’t helped businesses and haven’t helped founders.

“I think the budget is really, really bad for the UK and caused a lot of damage. And I think the UK attitude towards success and attitude towards entrepreneurs doesn’t help us.

“When you contrast that with the American attitude towards success that is one of the reasons you see so many more founders and entrepreneurs in America versus the UK at the moment.”

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‘UK economy is heading towards recession’

Mr Watt was scathing about the country’s economic prospects, saying: “The UK economy is heading towards a recession, we have debt levels which are way too high, we are trying to tax our way to economic prosperity, which I don’t think will work at all.

“And all the chancellor has done is make it very, very difficult for businesses to employ people, which I think in turn is going to lead to four years of economic pain.”

Asked whether he thought British workers were work shy, Mr Watt told Sky News: “I think you just have to look at the data, we are 18% less productive than America, we are 13% less productive than the French. And we often joke about the French being lazy.”

Work and pensions secretary defends budget

But the work and pensions secretary defended the budget, insisting it was not a tax on jobs.

On a visit to Coca-Cola’s headquarters, Ms Kendall told Sky News: “We have seen a tick up in youth unemployment and I’m really concerned about that.

“We’ve got now one million young people not in education, employment or training. That is terrible for their future life chances, because we know if you’re out of work and you don’t have skills when you’re young, it can have lifelong consequences.

“That’s why we will have a youth guarantee. So every young person is earning or learning. No ifs, no buts.”

‘We won’t means test’ pension triple lock – Liz Kendall

Ms Kendall also doubled down on her commitment to the state pension triple lock despite the necessity to cut the welfare bill.

“We won’t means test it,” she said. “We committed to the triple lock because we believe current pensioners and future pensioners deserve to be able to plan with security.”

Mr Watt however is the latest in a line of business leaders who have warned the budget will lead to companies laying people off this year.

It comes as new figures released this week showed an increase in unemployment and a fall in vacancies at a time in which the population continues to grow.

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Southport killer Axel Rudakubana’s 52-year jail term is set to be reviewed after concerns were raised it was unduly lenient.

The 18-year-old was jailed for life after murdering three young girls and stabbing several others in an act of “extreme violence” at a Taylor Swift themed dance class.

He was sentenced in his absence after failing to return to the dock, and will now spend decades behind bars for what the judge termed “the most extreme, shocking and exceptionally serious crime”.

Rudakubana avoided a whole-life tariff – which would have ensured he could never leave prison – because he was nine days shy of being 18 when he committed the atrocity. The 52-year sentence is a record length for a person of his age.

Southport’s Labour MP Patrick Hurley has now asked the Attorney General to review the sentence as “unduly lenient”.

Attorney General Lord Hermer and Solicitor General Lucy Rigby now have 28 days to decide whether to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.

The families of Rudakubana’s victims shared their pain and anger inside Liverpool Crown Court. Mother of murdered seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, Jenny, described the attack as “the act of a coward” and said Rudakubana was “cruel and pure evil”.

Australia beat England by six runs via the DLS method as rain stops play with just five balls remaining and Heather Knight’s team agonisingly short of their target in the second T20 in Canberra.

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The UK has left open the possibility of following EU rules for food and farm products in order to return to frictionless access to European markets, the trade secretary has said.

Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC such an agreement – which lowers all trade barriers in return for mirroring EU rules and standards – would not cross the government’s red lines.

His comments come after EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic told the BBC a new agreement, including so-called dynamic alignment on standards, is possible alongside other areas of pan-European co-operation on customs.

Reynolds met Sefcovic at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

He said he thanked his EU counterpart for his “incredibly positive” and “helpful” comments. Reynolds add that Sefcovic’s tone was in keeping with what the government had already said about a “twin- track strategy” on trade.

“We can improve the terms of trade with the EU in a way which doesn’t revisit customs unions or single markets or the arguments of Brexit, and we can do that whilst pursuing closer trade links around the world,” Reynolds said.

Labour fought last year’s UK general election with a manifesto pledge to lower Brexit-related barriers and red tape for the export of food and farm products to the European Union.

The question has always been how deep such an agreement might be. It could be settled in the coming weeks, though firm decisions have not yet been made.

on Thursday the EU suggested to the BBC that complete eradication of barriers in the sector would be possible if the UK followed relevant EU rules and standards as they change, a process known as “dynamic alignment”.

Speaking to the BBC in Davos, Reynolds said that both ideas floated by Sefcovic – a fully fledged veterinary agreement with dynamic alignment – and a pan-European customs plan did not break the government’s red lines.

On the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention he said it did not cross red lines because “it is not a customs union”.

Asked if a “full-fat veterinary agreement with dynamic alignment” crossed red lines he said: “No, that’s part of our manifesto, an SPS agreement, a veterinary agreement.”

The Conservatives have voiced anger at reports of a potential new deal on UK-EU trade, with shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel telling MPs that the government was “bending the knee to the EU”.

“These latest reports that the government might shackle us to the European Union are deeply concerning, and once again make clear that Keir Starmer and his chums are all too happy to put their ideology ahead of our national interest, no matter the cost,” she said.

But the Liberal Democrats have said the government is not doing enough to smooth trade with the EU.

Party leader Sir Ed Davey told the Commons: “It is time for a proper UK-EU customs arrangement so we can strengthen our negotiations with Donald Trump, cut the red tape on our businesses and grow the economy.”

Reynolds told the BBC he was preparing the UK’s case to avoid potential US tariffs on exports, after President Donald Trump suggested the world could have to pay trillions of dollars to access markets in America.