The Media 'Manufactured' Millionaire Exodus from UK, Campaigners Tell IPSO

Since 2024 large swathes of national and international coverage claimed a mass exodus of millionaires and billionaires from the UK, a narrative that rested almost entirely on the Henley Private Wealth Migration report. That study has since admitted it lacks the data to support those claims, and a cluster of UK papers - The Times, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Evening Standard, The Spectator, The Daily Express and This is Money - repeatedly misrepresented its findings: linking departures to Labour’s election rather than Brexit, asserting £66 billion had been taken out of the country when Henley said it would not, and portraying tax as the sole driver when the study identified multiple factors. HMRC review and other evidence show the predicted exodus did not materialize, with surveys finding most wealthy residents remain proud to live in the UK and willing to pay more tax.

Eleven campaign groups have sent an open letter demanding that the press regulator IPSO launch a full standards investigation, arguing the misleading reporting constitutes “serious and systemic” breaches. The campaigners highlight IPSO’s long record of inaction, its industry-controlled funding structure and the fact it has never used its powers to conduct a Standards Investigation. They urge either meaningful accountability from the implicated publishers, their registration with the independent regulator IMPRESS, or government intervention to end what they call ineffective self-regulation. The letter is signed by groups including Tax Justice Network, Hacked Off, Patriotic Millionaires UK, Tax Justice UK and Oxfam.