The boss of one of Britain’s oldest energy companies has said it will never invest in the UK again because of the country’s “crazy” politics.

Jim Johnson, the chief executive of Hunting, said the UK had become “uninvestable” and warned Andy Burnham’s hopes of rebuilding industry were doomed because of punitive oil and gas taxes and unpredictable policy decisions.

It comes after Hunting, one of the London Stock Exchange’s oldest listed companies, shed dozens of staff and shut down 80pc of its UK operations last year.

Mr Johnson said: “The reality is that Britain has become uninvestable. Everything your politicians have done has shown me that we cannot trust them. So why would I make a big investment here?

“It will never happen – the UK has become less investable than Venezuela.”

North Sea operators have been squeezed after Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, imposed a 38pc windfall tax on oil and gas profits, which was subsequently raised further by Labour to 78pc. The industry has also been hit by a ban on new drilling, which was introduced by Ed Miliband when he was energy secretary.

However, the Prime Minister is under pressure to soften his stance after the Iran war highlighted the vulnerability of Britain’s oil and gas supplies.

A consultation determining the fate of the Rosebank oil field, the North Sea’s largest undeveloped site, is expected to close on Monday, with a decision on the Jackdaw gas field also pending.

Mr Johnson said uncertainty among investors has been exacerbated by the Government’s failure to approve the schemes.

He added: “Those two developments were discovered more than 20 years ago. So if you’re an oil company, are you willing to drill and spend money, knowing 20 years from now, you might still never see a dime of returns?

“These policies have done a lot of damage, and I just can’t see the UK being a growth area again.

“The contrast I draw is with Norway, which loves oil and gas. They understand the impact it has on the nation’s treasury. We have just given up hope on the UK.”

Read More: We’ll never invest in Britain again, says FTSE oil giant