Rather than building up a robust public-owned oil sector, the UK Government flogged off the rights to exploit the resources to the lowest bidder, even offering generous subsidies rather than taxing their profits. The downstream infrastructure was privatised too, not just sucked vast amounts of wealth into the pockets of billionaires like Jim Ratcliffe, but also granting them vast political power and the ability to make hypocritical statements about immigration while living the high life in their own offshore tax haven.