Britain is being “colonized” by immigrants, who drain resources from the state, Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has told Sky News.
Mr Ratcliffe, founder of chemicals group INEOS, warned that the UK faces serious political, social and economic challenges, including an unprecedented rise in immigration in recent years.
“It’s impossible to sustain an economy with 9 million people on benefits and a huge influx of immigrants,” he said. “So Britain is colonized, it costs too much money.
“The UK has been colonized by immigrants, isn’t it? So the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020 and now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million.”
However, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates the UK’s population to be 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024. The UK’s population was estimated at 58.9 million in 2000.
Sky Sports News has contacted Manchester United and Kick It Out for comment. The Premier League declined to comment when contacted by Sky Sports News on Wednesday night.
Mr Ratcliffe, who lives in Monaco, also suggested that Prime Minister Keir Starmer may not be the right man for the job, saying: “I don’t know if it’s just the equipment that prevents Mr Keir from doing it or if he’s too nice. I mean, Mr Keir is a nice guy.”
“I like him, but it’s a tough job and I think we’re going to have to do some difficult things with Britain to get us back on track, because I don’t think the economy is in a good place at the moment.”
Mr Ratcliffe said he had recently met Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, and said: “I think Nigel is an intelligent person and I think he has good intentions.”
“But in some ways you can say exactly the same thing about Keir Starmer. I think that to solve big problems you need someone who is prepared to be unpopular for a period of time.”
Referring to his role at United, Ratcliffe added: “We’ve seen quite a bit of this at football clubs. At Manchester United, when you do something difficult that you felt you had to do…we felt it was the right thing to do, but it becomes very unpopular for a while.”
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Ratcliffe said he intends to make Manchester United the most profitable club on the planet and spoke to The Times’ business podcast about the changes already being introduced at the club.
Ratcliffe continued: “I’ve been very unpopular because we’ve made a lot of changes at Manchester United, but from my perspective things are moving in the right direction. I think we’re starting to see evidence within the football club that it’s starting to work.”
“But this country has the same problems. If we really want to address the big problem of immigration, where people choose to collect benefits rather than work for a living, we’re going to have to do some unpopular things and show some courage.”
Mr Ratcliffe was speaking on the margins of the European Industry Summit in Antwerp. At the summit, leaders from many of Europe’s biggest economies, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz, meet with business leaders to discuss the fate of their economies.
The summit comes amid a spate of closures across Europe’s chemical sector, which, in the view of the INEOS founders, show that the European chemical sector is facing an “unviable situation”.
Starmer: Ratcliffe should apologize for offensive comments
The Prime Minister told Mr Ratcliffe in an interview on Sky News’ X that his comments were “offensive and wrong”.
Mr Starmer added: “Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country.
“Jim Ratcliffe should apologize.”
Kick It Out criticized the Manchester United owner’s comments, telling Sky Sports News: “At a time when football does so much to bring communities together, (they) are disgraceful and deeply divisive.”
“In addition to the inaccurate figures mentioned, it is worth reminding him that Manchester United have a diverse fan base and play in a city whose cultural history has been enriched by immigration.
“This kind of language and leadership does not exist in English football and I think most fans would feel the same way.”
Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club was also dissatisfied with Mr Ratcliffe’s interview, saying it was “deeply concerned” and warning that his words could have “real-world consequences”.
