Inventor James Dyson says ‘stupid’ policies hold back UK economy

James Dyson, the billionaire inventor whose company makes iconic vacuum cleaners bearing his name, criticized UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s handling of the economy as “stupid” and “short-sighted.”

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Writing in The Telegraph, Dyson said that “growth has become a dirty word under Sunak” and that the ruling Conservative Party seems to think “penalizing the private sector is a free win at the ballot box.”

The remarks add to concerns that Sunak and his Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt lack a strategy to deliver the sort of growth needed to raise living standards and boost funding for public services.

Britain alone in the Group of Seven nations has yet to recover the output it lost during the pandemic and is expected to slip into recession this year.

Sunak has made fighting inflation one of his five key overarching priorities, putting him on collision course with Conservatives who want tax cuts.

“There are about 33 million jobs in the UK, of which 27 million are in the private sector. Yet too often it is the private sector that is being handicapped, and targeted to pay ever higher tax bills,” Dyson wrote.

He was also critical that the government hasn’t done enough to get people back into the workplace after coronavirus lockdowns. “Covid has badly damaged the country’s self-belief and work ethic.”

The remarks are especially damaging coming from Dyson, a Tory supporter and backer of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

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