UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe to apologise after the billionaire said in a television interview that the United Kingdom “has been colonised by immigrants.”
Responding to coverage of the remarks in a post on X, Starmer wrote: “Offensive and wrong. Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise.”
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Ratcliffe, the founder and chairman of chemicals group Ineos, made the comments during an interview with Sky News. “You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,” he said. “I mean, the UK is being colonised. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants.”
The Ineos owner argued that the government should be prepared to take unpopular steps. “If you really want to deal with the major issues of immigration, with people opting to take benefits rather than working for a living, if you want to deal with that, then you are going to have to do some things which are unpopular and show some courage,” he said.
Ratcliffe also described Starmer as “maybe too nice,” adding: “It’s a tough job, and I think you have to do some difficult things with the UK to get it back on track.”
In the interview, Ratcliffe praised Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as an “intelligent man” with “good intentions.” He added: “But in a way, you could say exactly the same about Keir when Keir came in. I think it needs somebody who’s prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out.”
Ratcliffe acquired a minority stake in Manchester United in late 2023, with his Ineos group taking control of football operations at the Premier League club. His arrival has coincided with a push to overhaul parts of the club’s structure and matchday operations.
Some of those changes, particularly around ticket pricing and availability, have angered sections of the fanbase. A protest against the club’s owners — directed for the first time at Ratcliffe as well as the Glazer family — took place before United’s recent home match against Fulham.
Ratcliffe’s remarks add a political dimension to his high-profile role in British sport and industry, intensifying scrutiny of one of the country’s most prominent business figures. Starmer’s swift rebuke underscores the sensitivity of immigration as a national issue and the risks for major public figures who wade into the debate with language critics say is inflammatory.
Neither Ratcliffe nor Ineos immediately issued a further statement in response to the prime minister’s call for an apology. Ratcliffe’s Sky News interview aired as the government faces ongoing pressure over economic performance and post-Brexit immigration policy, with business leaders often weighing in on the balance between labour needs, social cohesion and the cost-of-living squeeze.
As owner of one of the world’s largest chemical companies and a stakeholder in one of football’s most-watched clubs, Ratcliffe’s words reverberate beyond politics. The fallout from his interview will test how his leadership is received across corporate, political and sporting circles — and whether pressure from Downing Street and public reaction prompts a recalibration or an apology.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
