{"id":421654,"date":"2026-02-12T11:04:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/421654\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T11:04:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:04:07","slug":"jim-ratcliffe-accused-of-hypocrisy-after-saying-uk-colonised-by-immigrants-jim-ratcliffe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/421654\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Ratcliffe accused of hypocrisy after saying UK \u2018colonised\u2019 by immigrants | Jim Ratcliffe"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Monaco-based billionaire Jim Ratcliffe<\/a> has been accused of hypocrisy and using \u201cfar-right narratives\u201d, as a backlash grew over his claims that the UK was being \u201ccolonised\u201d by immigrants.<\/p>\n

Fans called the Manchester United co-owner\u2019s comments \u201cdisgraceful and deeply divisive\u201d, while Keir Starmer said his claim was \u201coffensive and wrong\u201d, and called on the Ineos chief executive to \u201capologise immediately\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The prime minister added: \u201cBritain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, accused Ratcliffe of making \u201cinaccurate, insulting, inflammatory\u201d comments that were \u201cagainst everything for which Manchester has traditionally stood\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said people of \u201call races, faiths and none\u201d had pulled together to build the city and its institutions, including Manchester United<\/a>. \u201cCalling for curbs on levels of immigration is one thing; portraying those who come here as a hostile invading force is quite another,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is inaccurate, insulting, inflammatory and should be withdrawn.\u201d<\/p>\n

A No 10 spokesperson said: \u201cJim Ratcliffe should immediately apologise. His offensive remarks are wrong and play into the hands of those who want to divide our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, was blunt in his condemnation of the comments. \u201cI call bullshit,\u201d he posted on social media. \u201c\u2018Immigrants\u2019 who pay their taxes in this country. Unlike Jim Ratcliffe. Who\u2019s the real patriot?\u201d<\/p>\n

Andy Prendergast, the GMB\u2019s national secretary, said Ratcliffe\u2019s tenure at Manchester United had brought \u201cmass dismissals of loyal staff and chaos on the pitch\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cRadcliffe\u2019s crass and insensitive comments just underline how out of touch and offensive he truly is,\u201d he said. \u201cFrankly, his right to comment on UK affairs should have ended the moment he sloped off to Monaco to avoid paying his taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, Britain\u2019s seventh-richest man, who moved to tax-free Monaco in 2020<\/a>, took aim at immigrants and people receiving state support and cited statistics that were two decades out of date to suggest the UK had been \u201ccolonised\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t afford \u2026 you can\u2019t have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,\u201d he said. \u201cThe UK is being colonised by immigrants, really, isn\u2019t it? I mean, the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it\u2019s 70 million. That\u2019s 12 million people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ratcliffe\u2019s claim is incorrect, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. The ONS estimated that the population of the UK was 67 million in 2020 and was last anywhere close to 58 million in 2000.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, ministers echoed the prime minister\u2019s condemnation of the comments, accusing Ratcliffe of hypocrisy. The justice minister Jake Richards said it was \u201coffensive, that this man who moved to Monaco to save \u00a34bn in tax is now lecturing us about immigration\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asked by Times Radio why Ratcliffe should apologise, Richards said he was entitled to an opinion but that his claims were inaccurate and offensive. \u201cThat language is offensive to so many people. It is completely absurd to think that our country is being \u2018colonised\u2019, which implies some kind of invasion or taken over. That\u2019s not right at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ratcliffe also faced condemnation from Manchester United fans, who said the club co-owner was \u201ca total embarrassment\u201d and \u201cout of touch\u201d. In a statement, the supporters\u2019 group the 1958 criticised Ratcliffe\u2019s intervention and his decision to comment \u201con the issues of our country while living in Monaco to avoid paying tax\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ratcliffe bought a minority share in United in 2023 and has been labelled an \u201cincompetent clown\u201d<\/a> by fans over his handling of football operations.<\/p>\n

Fans, who protested against Ratcliffe and the club\u2019s co-owners the Glazers before United\u2019s recent home game against Fulham, said Ratcliffe had priced out loyal fans and imposed \u201cdraconian measures\u201d on season ticket holders, and was forcing an unwanted new stadium on them.<\/p>\n

The Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club (MUMSC) said Ratcliffe had used \u201clanguage frequently used in far-right narratives\u201d.<\/p>\n

A statement said: \u201cManchester United is a global club built on diversity \u2013 on players, staff and supporters from every background, faith and ethnicity. The strength of our club, and of our country, lies in that diversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand with all communities who reject racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and hatred in all its forms, and we call for leadership that unites rather than divides.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Manchester United Supporters Trust said: \u201cComments from the club\u2019s senior leadership should make inclusion easier, not harder.\u201d<\/p>\n

The anti-racism football campaign group Kick It Out called Ratcliffe\u2019s comments \u201cdisgraceful and deeply divisive\u201d. In a statement, the organisation said: \u201cIn addition to the inaccurate figures mentioned, it\u2019s worth reminding him that Manchester United has a diverse fanbase and plays in a city whose cultural history has been enriched by immigrants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis type of language and leadership has no place in English football, and we believe most fans will feel the same.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Monaco-based billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has been accused of hypocrisy and using \u201cfar-right narratives\u201d, as a backlash grew…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421655,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-421654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}