Keir Starmer Calls On Sir Jim Ratcliffe To Apologise For Saying UK Has Been ‘Colonised’ By Immigrants

ByMF Jones

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on Sir Jim Ratcliffe to “apologise” for claiming the UK has been “colonised by immigrants”

Manchester United owner Ratcliffe gave an interview to Sky News earlier in the week where he said politicians needed to ‘do some difficult things with the UK to get it back on track’.

The 73-year-old billionaire said: ‘You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in.

‘I mean, the UK is being colonised. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants.’

Obviously Starmer was immediately on the case, calling on Sir Jim to apologise as his comments were ‘offensive and wrong’.

The PM said: ‘Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise.’

Also in the interview, Sir Jim said Keir Starmer was ‘maybe too nice’, while propping up Nigel Farage as ‘intelligent’ and having ‘good intentions.’

Sir Jim has also been catching flak from Manchester United supporters, given a lot of them are immigrants also, not to mention players and staff at the club itself.

The Manchester United Supporters Trust said: ‘Manchester United belongs to all of its supporters.

‘No fan should feel excluded from following or supporting the club because of their race, religion, nationality or background. Comments from the club’s senior leadership should make inclusion easier, not harder.

‘This is not about politics; it is about ensuring that the custodians of Manchester United act in a way that unites supporters rather than marginalising any part of our fanbase.’

Anti-racism charity Show Racism the Red Card added:  ‘Britain is a diverse society shaped by migration. Framing that diversity as “colonisation” is reinforcing harmful stereotypes and emboldening those who seek to divide rather than unite.’

Sir Jim bought a minority share in Manchester United in late 2023 and his INEOS group has since taken control of football operations. Fans were constantly hammering him up until recently when Michael Carrick started turning things around as head coach, but Sir Jim has just killed all that good will in one swoop with his comments. What was he thinking?!

Sir Jim explained: ‘Well, I’ve been very unpopular at Manchester United because we’ve made lots of changes. But for the better, in my view. And 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.’

No guess who Sir Jim is voting for at the next General Election then. Bonnie Blue too, for that matter?

Similar Posts