One of Britain’s richest people, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, says he has lost confidence in the UK, describing the country as “on the slide”.

The founder of petrochemical giant Ineos, who also owns a large stake in Manchester United, said the UK was in decline due to a combination of high taxes and high immigration.

He told the BBC failing to invest further in North Sea oil and gas amounted to “insanity” and warned gas storage was so low that the UK could “run out of gas” if there was a cold snap this winter.

In response to the billionaire’s criticism, the government said it was working to deliver growth and that business investment had increased in the last two years.

A spokesperson said they did not foresee any problems with gas supply: “We have a diverse energy mix and are confident in our security of supply.”

Sir Jim, whose wealth is estimated to be around £15bn, has prompted controversy in the past with his comments on immigration. He was a supporter of Brexit but has been a tax resident in Monaco since 2020.

The businessman’s UK exit has been followed by other high-profile billionaires, including steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and most recently hedge-fund boss Chris Rokos.

Sir Jim said the politics of envy was driving people away from the UK.

“In America they applaud people who create wealth,” he said. “Unfortunately the UK has got a bit of a green eye towards wealth at the moment.”

He said for him to return to the UK “things would have to get better”.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will take a “pragmatic approach” to oil and gas, but one of the biggest decisions facing the government, whether to give the go-ahead to further development of the oil and gas fields at Rosebank and Jackdaw, is still waiting to be resolved.

Sir Jim criticised the hesitation and suggested high taxes on North Sea operators were threatening the sector’s viability. Tax on energy company profits is being reformed, but won’t be fully implemented until 2030.

Ineos operates the Forties pipeline which transports about 30% of the UK’s North Sea oil.

“You would expect [the government] to exploit our natural resources and we’re clearly not doing that. We’re shutting it down.

“If you tax everybody to death, they’re all going to leave. And that’s what’s happening.”

Recent climate data combined with record heatwaves have given weight to the argument against further exploitation of fossil fuels. However, political pressure has grown on the government to proceed with Rosebank and Jackdaw to support UK jobs, tax revenues and boost energy security.

Sir Jim backed those calls, saying it was “absurd” to import more energy than necessary.

The government spokesperson said that oil and gas would play an important role in the UK “for decades to come”, but they added: “The transition to homegrown clean power is the only way to deliver energy and financial security for families and businesses.”

Not all employees of major firms working on artificial intelligence (AI) think the technology spells doom for humanity.

In text exchanges and conversations, multiple people who have worked for companies including OpenAI, Meta and DeepMind were sceptical of the idea that unchecked AI development would lead to tools that could kill people en masse.

“Lol”, “Haaaaaa” and “Bringing the luls” were among the reactions the BBC received to a recent flurry of high-profile warnings by some people in the industry.

While these fears go back decades, claims made last week by Jacob Coxon, a former Anthropic employee, went viral and were echoed by others in the sector who urged a slowdown in development.

The idea that a future AI tool or agent, an AI bot that is programmed to operate somewhat autonomously, could endanger people has been supported online by employees of Anthropic, as well as OpenAI, Deepmind and Elon Musk, who has an AI startup called xAI.

All of the workers who spoke with the BBC did so on condition of anonymity as they were not permitted to speak to the press. Their identities are known to the BBC.

“My first thought was, ‘That guy?’” said a former OpenAI employee who knew of Coxon when they both worked at the company.

The person, who now works at another AI company, said their amusement at the new moment of existential AI fears largely stemmed from how little detail had been provided by its proponents to defend the notion that all of human life was at stake.

The claims are “always vague”, the person said, adding that when they sound specific, they tend toward major jumps in reasoning or hypothetical circumstances.

Coxon has said a group of AI agents, based on AI models that do not currently exist, could decide to create and then aim a biological weapon, but he did not detail how exactly that would take place.

Several national charities are calling for the Healthy Start scheme to be updated, including Sustain, The Food Foundation, and Feeding Britain.

Newcastle-based Feeding Britain director Andrew Forsey said: “Given the increases in food prices that are coming our way in the months ahead we need every layer of protection possible for families on the lowest incomes.”

He said the government should make Healthy Start an auto-enrollment scheme for eligible families.

“The government can use the data and the technology at its disposal to register parents automatically, just to lift some of the burden off parents’ shoulders,” he said.

Labour MP for South Shields, Emma Lewell, said she had been campaigning to try and ensure the allocated money does not return to the Treasury if unclaimed.

“It just feels like such a no brainer,” she said.

“The money is there, the government have it, it’s not going to the people who need it and there’s things we can do to make sure it does, but they’re not being done.

“I’m really frustrated.”

Charities are also calling on the Department for Health and Social Care to release updated figures on enrollment on the scheme.

The NHS stopped publishing data in January 2023 due to an inaccuracy that was discovered and this has not since been rectified.

It means charities and local authorities cannot track who might be missing out.

The department has been approached for comment.

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