Brexit is a drag on growth, says Burberry chair, as he attacks ‘own goal’ on VAT

A Burberry store on Regent Street in central London. The retailer’s chair said the government’s decision on VAT had made the UK the ‘least attractive shopping destination in Europe’. Photograph: Niklas Halle’n/AFP/Getty Images

The chair of Burberry has called Brexit a “drag on growth” and asked Rishi Sunak to reverse a decision to remove tax-free shopping for tourists that has left Britain nursing the “weakest” Covid recovery among its big markets.

Gerry Murphy, the chair of the £10bn trench coats to handbags fashion house, told the prime minister that a decision to remove VAT refunds in 2020 has hurt the economy and was a “spectacular own goal”.