Richard Branson facing backlash over plea for UK bailout of Virgin

Richard Branson is trying to convince the UK govt to give his Virgin Atlantic airline a GBP500m bailout to help it survive the coronavirus pandemic and the economic fallout of the lockdown. The billionaire, who also wants GBP700m from the Australian govt to bailout Virgin Australia, has the backing of bosses at Airbus, which makes Virgin’s planes, and Rolls-Royce who have warned ministers that if the airline collapsed it could drag them down too. But Branson’s plea has prompted a substantial backlash, with many pointing out that the entrepreneur has paid the exchequer no personal income tax since moving to the tax free British Virgin Islands 14 years ago. Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said it was unacceptable that “rich billionaires [were] milking the system” at a time of national crisis. <br/>