Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary launches foul-mouthed attack over Rachel Reeves' Heathrow growth plan
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary launches foul-mouthed attack over Rachel Reeves' Heathrow growth plan
Share:
Michael O’Leary said the chancellor should scrap air passenger duty as he dubbed her ‘Rachel Rubbish' and called another Treasury minister a ‘dopey git’. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has hit out at Rachel Reeves in a foul-mouthed tirade as he claimed the chancellor “hasn’t a clue” about how to generate economic growth.
As Ms Reeves set out major plans, including support for a third runway at Heathrow, he accused the Treasury of being out of touch “with f****** reality". He said ministers should scrap air passenger duty (APD) rather than “waffle on” about Heathrow, which he described as “a dead cat” that would not happen before the 2040s at the earliest.
In her budget in October 2024, Ms Reeves announced increases in APD from the 2026/27 financial year. Mr O’Leary dubbed her “Rachel Rubbish” and accused Treasury minister James Murray of being a “dopey git” after he claimed the rise was just 1 per cent of the average budget airlfare.
The airline boss hit back that Ryanair’s average was £44, while APD was going from £13 to £15. "I don't know what f****** airline this dopey git actually flies on," he added. The thing that will deliver growth is abolishing APD. At a press conference in London on Wednesday, Mr O’Leary said: “The UK continues to lose out on enormous growth opportunities because you have a chancellor who hasn’t a clue about how to deliver growth, has had five years to get ready for it, and yet has managed to screw it up in her first budget.”.
