British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe apologises for immigration ‘language’ after Starmer condemnation

LONDON - Manchester United’s billionaire co-owner Jim Ratcliffe apologised on Feb 12 for his “choice of language” after saying the “UK has been colonised by immigrants”.

The businessman, founder and chairman of the Ineos chemicals company, made the remarks in a TV interview in which he suggested “huge levels of immigration” to Britain had harmed the economy.

But following calls, including from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for Mr Ratcliffe to apologise, the 73-year-old billionaire said: “I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern, but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth.

“My intention was to stress that governments must manage migration alongside investment in skills, industry and jobs so that long-term prosperity is shared by everyone. It is critical that we maintain an open debate on the challenges facing the UK.”

Mr Starmer on Feb 11 condemned Mr Ratcliffe’s comment that Britain had been “colonised by immigrants”.

Mr Ratcliffe had told Sky News that Britain faced “huge levels of immigrants coming in” and argued that the country “has been colonised”, saying migration was “costing too much money”.

“Offensive and wrong. Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise,” Mr Starmer said in a post on X.

In his interview, Mr Ratcliffe said rising immigration was among the profound political, social and economic challenges faced by the country.

He linked his comments to concerns about social benefits, saying: “You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in.”

Mr Ratcliffe recently met Mr Nigel Farage, leader of populist and anti-immigrant party Reform UK, and described him in the Sky interview as “an intelligent man” with “good intentions”.

The same could be said about Mr Starmer, adding that “difficult things” needed to be done to get the country’s economy back on track, he said.

The businessman claimed that the UK population had risen from 58 million in 2020 to 70 million currently.

That estimate differs from official statistics. Provisional estimates 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.

Immigration is consistently among the top voter concerns in Britain according to opinion polls, and has helped fuel the rise of Reform UK.

Official data also shows that around 10 million people of working age currently receive some kind of state benefit, though fewer than 1.7 million of these are classed as out-of-work claimants.

The rise in population has been overwhelmingly driven by immigration.

Studies consistently show migration has an overall positive impact on economic growth. 
AFP, BLOOMBERG