Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid speculations that Labour MP Shabana Mahmood could become the United Kingdom’s first Muslim woman Prime Minister, British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has warned that immigrants have “colonized” the country.
He suggested the Prime Minister was “too nice” to do “difficult things” to stabilise the country’s economy, the media reported on Thursday.
This triggered such a political furore that PM Sir Keir Starmer asked him to apologize for his “offensive and wrong” comments.
In an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, Sir Ratcliff, 73, said the UK has been “colonized” by immigrants and argued that high migration is placing pressure on the state.
Immigration
The founder of one of the largest chemicals group Ineos and part-owner of Manchester United Football Club said immigration was among the country’s most pressing political, social and economic challenges.
“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,” Ratcliffe said. “The UK has been colonized. It’s costing too much money.”
Hailing Nigel Farage, leader of Reform, as “an intelligent man” with “good intentions,” he said the same could be said of PM Starmer, but that “difficult things” needed to be done to get the economy back on track.
Farage said: “Labour may try to ignore that but Reform won’t.”
The UK’s population had risen from 58 million in 2020 to 70 million currently. That estimate differs from official data, according to reports. Provisional figures from the Office for National Statistics put the UK population at 69.5 million in mid-2025, up from 67.1 million in mid-2020.
“Offensive and wrong”
Calling the remarks as “offensive and wrong,” PM Starmer said Britain was “a proud, tolerant and diverse country” and called on Sir Jim to apologise.
A 10, Downing Street spokesperson said the comments “play into the hands of those who want to divide our country.”
Responding to the PMs criticism, Farage wrote on X: “Britain has undergone unprecedented mass immigration that has changed the character of many areas in our country.
On Wednesday, Sir Jim told the broadcaster: “You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonised. It’s costing too much money.”
He made the comments during an interview with Sky News‘ Economic Editor Ed Conway, on the fringes of the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, Belgium.
His remarks were condemned by various fans groups, including the Manchester United Supporters Trust, which said on X: “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.”
Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club said the remark “echoes language frequently used in far-right narratives that frame migrants as invaders and demographic threats.”
Its co-founder and club secretary Asif Mahmud told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We appreciate there are legitimate debates around immigration and illegal immigration but using words like colonisation, they just stoke the flames.
“We didn’t expect that from the co-owner of Manchester United.”
An organization Show Racism the Red Card said the cultural influence held by football clubs “should be used to challenge racism, not inadvertently amplify narratives that undermine community harmony,” while Kick It Out said the comments were “disgraceful and deeply divisive.”
The 1958 Group of Manchester United supporters described the comments as “very ill-advised,” and criticised Sir Jim for “commenting on the issues of our country while living in Monaco to avoid paying tax.”
The business tycoon has restructured United since acquiring a 27.7 percent stake in 2024, making 450 redundancies, overhauling senior management and sacking two managers.
He likened the job of running the country to his stewardship of Manchester United, saying politicians needed to be “prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out.”
Although some of his decisions had been unpopular, Sir Jim said, he had had to make them “to get the big issues sorted out.”
“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,” he said.
“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.”
About PM Starmer, Sir Jim said: “It’s a tough job, and I think you have to do some difficult things with the UK to get it back on track.”
“I think it needs somebody who’s prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out,” he added.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey described Sir Jim’s comments as “totally wrong” and “totally out of step with British values,” also calling on him to apologise.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said the comments “go against everything for which Manchester has traditionally stood.”
Labour MP for Walthamstow Stella Creasy wrote on X that Sir Jim did “not seem to understand the contribution” immigrants made to “his own team, let alone this country.”
According to the Sunday Times’ Rich List, Sir Jim, who was a Leave campaigner in the run-up to the Brexit referendum, was the seventh richest person in the UK in 2025, with a net worth of about £17 billion.
He reportedly moved from the UK to Monaco in 2020, a place that does not collect personal income tax or capital gains taxes.
His firm Ineos’ raw materials are used in everything from packaging for toiletries, medicines and food, to mobile phones and furniture.
In recent years, Sir Jim’s business interests have moved away from chemicals, including a discontinued plan to build a new vehicle based on the Land Rover Defender, as well as Ineos’ purchase of luxury motorcycle wear brand Belstaff.