Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, has predicted that the UK will sign a Norway-style deal with the European Union within the next 10 to 15 years, including payments into the bloc’s budget. Speaking at Bloomberg’s New Economy Gateway event in Ireland, O’Leary described Brexit as “unbelievably messy” and a “net negative” on the British economy.
O’Leary said the UK would have “no choice” but to pay into the European budget, arguing that the single market’s strength is “too attractive for the UK economy to be excluded from”. He criticised the British labour market as “broken”, noting that Ryanair now spends £3,000 per visa to hire European and non-European workers.
The airline boss dismissed claimed benefits of Brexit, saying “duty free is back on flights to and from Europe, that’s about the only benefit”. He added that promises of “sunny uplands” and trade deals were “a tissue of lies”. However, he praised Rishi Sunak’s Windsor Framework as an “immeasurably better deal” than the previous agreement.
O’Leary contrasted the UK’s economic outlook with that of the EU, where he said “business is booming and getting boomier”. He also noted demographic trends, stating that “in the next five to 10 years, quite a number of the Brexiteers will die”, and younger Britons are “much more pro-European”.
