Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe should apologise for his “offensive and wrong” comments that the UK has been colonised by immigrants, the Prime Minister has said.
The billionaire, who is founder and chairman of one of the world’s largest chemical companies, Ineos, said in an interview that “the UK has been colonised by immigrants”.
Responding to a news story about the comments in a post on X, the Prime Minister wrote: “Offensive and wrong. Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country.
“Jim Ratcliffe should apologise.”
Downing Street said Sir Jim’s remarks “play into the hands of those who want to divide our country” and called on him to “immediately” apologise.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “Jim Ratcliffe should immediately apologise.
“His offensive remarks are wrong and play into the hands of those who want to divide our country.”
In an interview with Sky News, the Ineos owner 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.”
Sir Jim added: “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 are going to have to do some things which are unpopular and show some courage.”
In the interview, Sir Jim said the Prime Minister was “maybe too nice”.
He added: “It’s a tough job, and I think you have to do some difficult things with the UK to get it back on track.”
The Manchester United co-owner said Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was an “intelligent man” with “good intentions”.
He added: “But in a way, you could say exactly the same about Keir when Keir came in.
“I think it needs somebody who’s prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out.”
Sir Jim bought a minority share in Manchester United in late 2023 and his Ineos group has since taken control of football operations.
The billionaire has presided over a variety of contentious changes since becoming part of the ownership, with ticket pricing and availability causing particular anger among United fans.
A protest against the club’s owners – including for the first time towards Sir Jim as well as the Glazers – took place before Manchester United’s recent home game against Fulham.
