UK set to be sick man of Europe, says Tory backer

The UK is on a path to being “the sick man of Europe” because of the way Brexit was negotiated, according to a Tory backer.

Guy Hands, who runs private equity firm Terra Firma and has been a Brexit critic, warned the UK faces higher taxes, lower benefits, and a possible International Monetary Fund bailout.

His comments come after a tumultuous period sparked by the mini-budget.

But Hands suggested the problems facing the UK go back much further.

“I think [the Conservative Party has] got to move on from fighting its own internal wars and actually focus on what needs to be done in the economy and admitting some of the mistakes they’ve made in the last six years which have frankly put this country on a path to be the sick man of Europe,” he told the BBC’s Today program.

He added that the party was, in his view, not fit to run the country.