Starmer rages after Manchester United co-owner warns UK ‘colonized’ by migrants
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe, co-owner of Manchester United football club and founder of chemicals group INEOS, faced a backlash from Prime Minister Keir Starmer after telling Sky News that the UK was being “colonized” by immigrants.
“You can’t have an economy where nine million people are on aid and a lot of immigrants are coming,” he told Sky News on Wednesday. “So the United Kingdom has been colonized. It costs a lot of money.”
“The United Kingdom was really colonized by immigrants, wasn’t it? So in 2000 the population of the United Kingdom was 58 million, now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million people,” he continued.
Sky News responded to readers with the following statement: “But 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 population was estimated at 58.9 million in 2000.”
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the Manchester United owner’s comments and praised Britain as an inherently diverse country. (Thomas Krych/Pool via Reuters)
While Ratcliffe questioned whether the currently embattled Prime Minister Starmer was up to the task, he suggested that he probably meant well.
“I don’t know if it’s just the device that allows Keir to do this or if he’s a very nice guy. I know Keir, he’s a good guy,” he said. “I love it but it’s a tough job and I think you have to do some tough things to get things going with the UK because I don’t think the economy is in a good place at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage, now chairman of the Reform UK party and a key figure in Britain’s exit from the European Union, had slightly more praise than Ratcliffe.
“I think Nigel is an intelligent man and I think he means well,” he said. “But in a way you could say the same about Keir Starmer. I think he needs someone who is prepared to be unpopular for a while to solve the big problems.”
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe has warned political leaders in the UK that something must be done to solve the migration crisis, even if it makes them temporarily unpopular. (Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
Ratcliffe argued that often unpopular measures must be taken to do what is best for the whole, comparing them to measures he took with Manchester United which he said were ultimately better for the organisation.
“But you have the same problems as the country,” he said. “If you really want to deal with the fundamental issues of immigration, with people choosing to be on benefits rather than working for a living, if you want to deal with that, then you’re going to have to do some unpopular things and show some courage.”
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Protesters wave the Union Jack and St George’s UK flags during a “Unite the Kingdom” rally on Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament on September 13, 2025 in London, England. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
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Starmer, who has been involved in other controversies this week, criticized Ratcliffe’s comments in a post on social media, saying: “Offensive and wrong. Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologize.”
