Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Manchester United co-owner says UK has been 'colonised by immigrants'

Britain has been "colonised" by immigrants, who are draining resources from the state, Manchester United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has told Sky News.

Ratcliffe, the founder of the INEOS chemicals group, warned Britain faces profound political, social and economic challenges, among them an unprecedented rise in immigration in recent years.

"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 has been colonised. It's costing too much money.

"The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn't it? I mean, the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it's 70 million. That's 12 million people."

However, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimates the population of the UK was 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024. The UK 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 did not wish to comment when approached by Sky Sports News on Wednesday evening.

Ratcliffe - who is a resident of Monaco - also signalled Prime Minister Keir Starmer might not be the right person for the job, saying: "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 mean, Keir is a nice man.

"I like him, but it's a tough job and I think you have to do some difficult things with the UK to get it back on track, because at the moment I don't think the economy is in a good state."

Ratcliffe said he had met recently with Nigel Farage, the leader of right-wing party Reform UK, saying: "I think Nigel is an intelligent man and I think he's got good intentions.

"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."

Referring to his role at United, Ratcliffe added: "I've seen quite a bit of this at the football club. If you do difficult things, which we felt that we had to do at Manchester United... we felt like they were the right things to do. But you do become very unpopular for a while."

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Ratcliffe continued: "I've been very unpopular at Manchester United because we've made lots of changes. But for the better, in my view. I think we're beginning to see some evidence in the football club that that's beginning to pay off.

"But you've got all the same issues with the country. 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."

Ratcliffe was talking on the fringes of the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, at which leaders from many of Europe's biggest economies, including France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, are meeting with industrialists to discuss the fate of its economy.

The summit comes amid a spate of closures across the European chemicals sector, closures that indicate, in the INEOS founder's view, that the European chemicals sector is facing "unsurvivable conditions".

Starmer: Ratcliffe should apologise for offensive comments

The Prime Minister responded to Sky News' interview with Ratcliffe on X, calling his comments "offensive and wrong".

Starmer added: "Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country.

"Jim Ratcliffe should apologise."

Kick It Out criticised the Manchester United owner's comments, telling Sky Sports News: "[They] are disgraceful and deeply divisive at a time when football does so much to bring communities together.

"In addition to the inaccurate figures mentioned, it's worth reminding him that Manchester United has a diverse fanbase and plays in a city whose cultural history has been enriched by immigrants.

"This type of language and leadership has no place in English football and we believe most fans will feel the same."

The Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club are also unhappy with Ratcliffe's interview, saying they are "deeply concerned" and warning his words could have "real-world consequences".