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Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the co-owner of the Manchester United soccer club and founder of the INEOS chemicals group, faced backlash from Prime Minister Keir Starmer after he told Sky News that the United Kingdom is being “colonized” by immigrants.
“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,” he told Sky News on Wednesday. “I mean, the U.K. has been colonized. It’s costing too much money.”
“The U.K. has been colonized by immigrants, really, hasn’t it? I mean, the population of the U.K. was 58 million in 2000, now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million people,” he continued.
Sky News responded by noting to readers, “However, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimates the population of the U.K. was 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024. The UK population was estimated at 58.9 million in 2000.”
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Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the Manchester United owner’s comments, praising Britain as an inherently diverse country. (Thomas Krych/Pool via Reuters)
While Ratcliffe questioned whether the current embattled Prime Minister Starmer was up to the job, he suggested he likely has the best of intentions.
“I don’t know whether it’s just the apparatus that hasn’t allowed Keir to do it or he’s maybe too nice. I know Keir, he is a nice man,” he said. “I like him, but it’s a tough job and I think you have to do some difficult things with the U.K. to get it back on track, because at the moment I don’t think the economy is in a good state.”
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage, who is currently the head of the Reform U.K. party and was one of the key figures in the U.K.’s exit from the European Union, received somewhat higher praise from Ratcliffe.
“I think Nigel is an intelligent man and I think he’s got good intentions,” he said. “But in a way, you could say exactly the same about Keir Starmer. I think it needs somebody who’s prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out.”
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe called out political leaders in the United Kingdom, warning that something needs to be done to fix the immigration crisis, even if it may make them temporarily unpopular. (Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
Ratcliffe argued that often one must take unpopular measures in order to do what is best for the whole, comparing it to measures that he took with Manchester United that he says were ultimately better for the organization.
“But you’ve got all the same issues with the country,” he said. “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’re going to have to do some things which are unpopular and show some courage.”
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Protesters wave Union Jack and St George’s England flags during the “Unite The Kingdom” rally on Westminster Bridge by the Houses of Parliament on Sept. 13, 2025 in London, England. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
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Starmer, embroiled in other controversies this week, blasted Ratcliffe’s comments in a post on social media, saying, “Offensive and wrong. Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise.”
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