'A tax exile's half-baked scheme': Man Utd stadium row escalates

Plea for millions of pounds of public cash to regenerate surrounding area comes under fire

- Jon Ungoed-Thomas

Jim Ratcliffe, the co-owner of Manchester United, has been challenged over the proposed use of hundreds of millions of pounds of public funds to deliver his vision of building the “world’s greatest stadium”.

Ratcliffe, who has an estimated fortune of about £12bn, quit the UK for tax-free Monaco in 2020. He is now urging ministers to help support the club’s vision of the stadium with public funds to regenerate the surrounding area.

The club has claimed the project – eagerly backed by ministers as part of a growth agenda - could help deliver a £7.3bn annual boost to the UK economy by 2039. However, the stadium only provides a fraction of this sum, with a large tranche of public funds required to secure the venture.

Graham Stringer, a Labour MP and former leader of Manchester city council, hit out at the project last week, describing it on the website Confidentials Manchester as a “tax exile’s half-baked, misbegotten scheme”.

Speaking to the Observer, Stringer, a United season ticket holder, said: “The stadium doesn’t happen without public funds. Any representations to local or central government for public money to go into this scheme should be refused.”

He said the money could be used more effectively in other parts of Greater Manchester and it was “outrageous” that Ratcliffe was pushing the government for public funds to help increase the value of his business.