Discussions of migration in Britain often portray immigrants as “invaders”. This is evident in the narrative around migrants arriving on small boats, to recent comments by Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire co-owner of Manchester United.
Ratcliffe, who relocated to the tax haven of Monaco in 2020, blamed immigrants for the country’s economic challenges and claimed the UK had been “colonised”. After a public backlash, he apologised “that his choice of language has offended some people”.
A look at the history of immigration policy and rhetoric shows how this narrative came to play such a big role – and why it is so harmful.
