Jim Ratcliffe, a co-owner of Manchester United, should issue an apology for his remarks on Wednesday, saying that the UK has been “colonized by immigrants.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the remarks “offensive and wrong.”
Ratcliffe’s claims that “huge levels of immigration” to the UK had hurt the economy were condemned just hours after he made them in a televised appearance.
Ratcliffe, who lives in Monaco, told Britain’s Sky News that “you can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in.”
The United Kingdom, after all, has been colonized. He said, “The UK has been colonized by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?” “It’s costing too much money.”
Ratcliffe continued by using false data to claim that there were 58 million people living in the UK in 2020 and that “now it’s 70 million.”
According to Office for National Statistics (ONS) population predictions, the nation’s population was just under 70 million in mid-2024 and 67 million in mid-2020.
More over thirty years ago, during 1994 and 1995, the UK’s population surpassed 58 million, according to ONS figures.
Hours after Ratcliffe’s comments were made public, Starmer retaliated on X.
He posted, “Offensive and wrong,” with a link to the Sky News article.
“Britain is a varied, tolerant, and proud nation. Jim Ratcliffe ought to issue an apology.
Ratcliffe’s comments, according to a spokesperson for Starmer’s Downing Street office, “play into the hands of those who want to divide our country.”
