Nadhim Zahawi, the former Tory cabinet minister who recently defected to Reform UK, has defended Jim Ratcliffe. In a post on social media, he says:
The scoundrels in @UKLabour in Gov & the @LibDems & @TheGreenParty trying to attack & discredit Jim Ratcliffe are either deliberately missing the point or worst colluding in the collapse of our economy. Why? Because they say he is using inappropriate language on immigration, that his own Man U players are immigrants, yes they are but the big difference is they pay huge amounts of tax to the UK. They say he got his numbers wrong, well it’s still millions who came across. The millions who have come are low skilled & therefore are a huge burden on public services & the economy, and as @DuncanBannatyne says today are they not claiming benefits? Look at the countries who do attract the best immigrants - the UAE has 10 to 1 immigrant vs local population. The locals support this wholeheartedly. Why? Because if you are an immigrant you have to have a job & pay taxes. If you don’t have work you have to leave. I call that Smart Gov. We @reformparty_uk will change this, we will tackle the tough choices and deliver. The @Conservatives (which yes I was part of) made a huge error of judgement on this issue. @Nigel_Farage is determined to fix. I predict more & more smart loyal Brits will join us. @Keir_Starmer is yet again on the wrong side of history on this.
Zahawi is claiming that migrants who have come to the UK recently to work have been “a huge burden on public services and the economy”.
But that is not what the government’s expert body, the migration advisory committee, says. At the end of last year it published a report on the lifetime economic contribution of people coming to the UK on skilled worker visas (a category that included health and care workers in the period covered by this data) and it said that overall their contribution was “clearly fiscally positive”.
Long waits in A&E rise sharply - as overall NHS waiting list in England continues to fall
The number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments for a hospital bed has risen sharply – though the overall NHS waiting list continues to drop, PA Media reports. PA says:
New data for England shows that the number of people waiting more than 12 hours for a hospital bed following a decision to admit them stood at 71,517 in January, up sharply from 50,775 in December.
This is the highest number since monthly records began in August 2010.
Meanwhile, the number waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission stood at 161,141 last month, up from 137,763 in December and the second highest figure on record.
Some 72.5% of patients in England are being dealt with within four hours, against a March 2026 target of 78%.
When it comes to the overall NHS waiting list, this has fallen for the second month in a row.
An estimated 7.29 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of December 2025, relating to 6.17 million patients.
This is down from 7.31 million treatments at the end of November, while the figure for patients has remained at 6.17 million.
The list hit a record high in September 2023, with 7.77 million treatments and 6.50 million patients.
Some experts have raised concerns about how the drop in the waiting list is being achieved, owing to the practice of “list cleaning”.
The Nuffield Trust has argued that the balance between referrals for treatment versus treatment delivered has not changed very much, meaning a big proportion of waiting list reductions have happened due to other reasons, such as list cleaning.
In its own news release about today’s figures, NHS England says it carried out a record number of operations and treatments last year. It says:
The NHS delivered more elective activity in 2025 than any other year in its history, helping cut the waiting list to its lowest level since February 2023.
Staff delivered a historic high of 18.4 million treatments and operations in 2025, up from 18 million in 2024, as the waiting list dropped to 7.29 million.
Today’s data shows there were 1.43 million treatments delivered in December – an increase of 91,775 on last year – despite 5 days of industrial action by resident doctors, thanks to staff maintaining almost 95% of usual activity during strikes.
The percentage of people waiting over 18 weeks for treatment slightly decreased to 61.5%, while the percentage of those waiting over 52 weeks dropped to just 1.9% – the lowest since June 2020 – as the Elective Reform Plan continues to drive NHS services to tackle the longest waits and ensure more people are seen quicker.
No 10 says Ratcliffe 'right' to say sorry - and sidesteps questions about whether apology should have gone further
Jim Ratcliffe’s statement today (see 12.10pm) does not count as a full, proper apology. Ratcliffe is not apologising for what he said; he is saying he is sorry that some people were offended – implying that whether or not his words were offensive is a matter for debate. But at least he did not say “if” people were offended.
At the Downing Street lobby briefing, asked if the Ratcliffe apology should have gone further, the PM’s spokesperson did not press this point. He just said:
The prime minister asked for an apology, and one’s been issued, and it’s absolutely right that Jim Ratcliffe has apologised for that language.
Asked again if the apology went far enough, the spokesperson said:
It’s for Mr Ratcliffe to speak to his apology … It’s not for me.
Sunder Katwala, who runs British Future, a thinktank dealing with immigration, race and identity issues, has posted on Bluesky about what he thinks Ratcliffe should have said.
Jim Ratcliffe has issued a bland and generic statement about economic policy which does not engage at all with what he got wrong, or why saying the UK has been colonised has been legitimately criticised. Nor does he seem to retract his language of colonisation in gesturing towards a semi-apology
TRY: “I regret saying that UK has been colonised by immigration, I understand that was the wrong language to use. I can see how that has detracted from what I see as the substantive issue: jobs, growth, welfare and well-managed migration for the benefit of all, which I hope to engage with better”
Reeves says Ratcliffe's comment about UK being 'colonised' by migrants 'disgusting'
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has said that it was “disgusting” for Jim Ratcliffe to talk about the UK being “colonised” by migrants.
On a visit to Crawley, speaking shortly before Ratcliffe issued his partial apology (see 12.10pm), Reeves said:
Investment in Grangemouth is to support jobs in Grangemouth and support vital industries in Scotland and in the UK.
But what Jim Ratcliffe said was unacceptable. It was disgusting, frankly, and he should apologise for his remarks, but I’m not going to let what Jim Ratcliffe has said determine the future of jobs in Scotland.
Ratcliffe runs the chemicals company Ineos, which has major ethylene plant in Grangemouth in Scotland. At the end of last year the government announced £120m in funding to keep it operating.
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No 10 claims it still has cabinet secretary - but won't say who it is, and won't comment on reports Chris Wormald being sacked
The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished but, on the issue of the fate of Chris Wormald (see 10.07am), reporters emerged no wiser than when they went in.
The PM’s spokesperson refused to say what is happening to Wormald and refused to say whether or not he is still cabinet secretary.
At one point the spokesperson said that the Cabinet Office was '“still being supervised by the cabinet secretary” – implying that someone is actually doing the job. But, when reporters asked who this mysterious individual was, the spokeperson refused to say.
He repeatedly said he would not comment on the “ongoing speculation”.
Asked about the claims that Antonia Romeo is being lined up to replace Wormald, the spokesperson said those were “speculative reports”.
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FA to look at whether Ratcliffe broke football rules by saying UK ‘colonised’ by immigrants
The Football Association will look at whether Jim Ratcliffe brought the game into disrepute through his claims that the UK has been “colonised” by immigrants, Nick Ames reports.
Ratcliffe says he's sorry his migration comment 'offended some people', but stresses need for 'open debate' on topic
Jim Ratcliffe has issued a statement saying he is sorry that his comment about the UK being “colonised” by migrants “offended some people”. But he defends the need for an “open debate” on the topic.
He 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 comments were made while answering questions about UK policy at the European industry summit in Antwerp, where I was discussing the importance of economic growth, jobs, skills and manufacturing in the UK.
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.
Keir Starmer’s approval ratings are dire. Last week the polling firm Ipsos published this chart showing how he compares to other Labour and Tory leaders over the past two decades.
But Starmer’s ratings are improving. YouGov has published figures showing that his net favourability rating is up 10 points since January – although, at -47 – it is still very poor.
The fieldwork for the YouGov polling was carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday, after Starmer faced down a threat to his leadership from his party. He may have got some credit for that, but it is also possible that he impressed people by standing up to Donald Trump, over Greenland and over the president’s comments about the record of British troops in Afghanistan in late January.
Government will publish humble address Mandelson documents 'as soon as we can', minister tells MPs
Alexandra Topping is a Guardian political correspondent.
Chris Ward, a Cabinet Office minister, has told MPs that the government will comply with last week’s humble address requiring the release of government papers relating to Peter Mandelson’s time as ambassador to the US “as soon as possible”.
Responding to an urgent question tabled by the Conservatives, Ward said:
The government will comply fully and publish documents as soon as possible.
As I said in this house last week, we welcome both the principle and content of that motion, and we will deliver on it as soon as we can.
As such, government departments have been instructed to retain any material which may be relevant, and work is under way to identify documents which fall in scope of the motion.
We will do [this] as soon as possible when the house returns from recess, in line with the motion passed by this house.
Where the government considers documents may be prejudicial to UK national security or international relations, the Cabinet Office will refer this material to the independent intelligence and security committee.
The Commons starts a half-term recess this afternoon, and will return on Monday week.
Here is video of Jim Ratcliffe making his comment about the UK being “colonised” by immigrants.
Badenoch criticises Starmer over way Chris Wormald being removed as cabinet secretary
Kemi Badenoch has urged Keir Starmer to delay the departure of Sir Chris Wormald, the cabinet secretary, so that he remains in post to oversee the release of government documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s time as ambassador to Washington.
Although No 10 has not confirmed Wormald’s departure, it has reportedly already been agreed that he is leaving and No 10 is working to find a successor.
In a letter to the Civil Service Commission, Badenoch said:
It is hard to escape the conclusion that the cabinet secretary is simply the latest person to be thrown under a bus by this prime minister.
It is all the more concerning to be changing cabinet secretary in the midst of the ongoing scandal over the appointment of Lord Mandelson and his conduct in office.
Last week MPs voted for a humble address motion requiring the government to publish potentially a huge mass of information relating to Mandelson’s time as ambassador. Normally the cabinet secretary would be in charge of overseeing a project like this.
In her letter Badenoch said:
Changing the cabinet secretary in the middle of this scandal – or more precisely forcing out the incumbent without any clear process – would be an extraordinary thing to do.
Any individual appointed in the circumstances, without a full process to point to and in midst of managing a scandal, could find it difficult to demonstrate impartiality.
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Lisa Nandy says ministers should act more like they're in 'Labour government', willing to 'rebalance' power
One consequence of the Labour leadership crisis on Sunday/Monday, when the PM’s chief of staff quit and No 10 feared an outbreak of calls for Keir Starmer’s resignation, is that there has been a widespread recognition in government, and in the Labour party more generally, that No 10 needs to operate differently. Ed Miliband articulated this well on Tuesday morning. Whether or not there will be any significant change remains to be seen, but the nature of the response to what Jim Ratcliffe said may be evidence that No 10, post-McSweeney, will start sounding less constrained. (See 8.49am.)
If so, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, will be pleased. On Tuesday she gave an interview to Simon Hattenstone, and in it she made it clear that she wants ministers to act more like a “Labour government”.
Nandy said:
One thing I really do think is we came into office with so much that is broken, including people’s faith in politics to make things better. There was so much to fix.
The challenge is that I think we’ve started to behave like a government of national emergency and not a Labour government.
We’ve got to wear our colours on our sleeves again, because people need to know why we, in particular, are the answer to their problems.
Nandy was mostly talking in broad terms, rather than advocating for policies that are not currently part of the government’s programme. But she also suggested she wanted the government to be more radical in terms of redistributing power. She said:
At times in our history in the Labour movement we’ve understood that our job is not just about redistributing wealth, it’s about who holds power.
Asked if that was the case now, she replied: “I think we’ve forgotten it.”
Explaining this in more detail, she said:
Every day we have to get up and say: how do we rebalance this country in favour of ordinary people? How do we break up this network of people who’ve had a grip on our systems, institutions and opportunities for too long? We’ve got to be prepared to think big enough to change things, not just tinker around the edges.
You can read the full interview here.
Farage defends Ratcliffe, saying it's wrong to ignore impact of 'unprecedented mass immigration'
But Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has defended Jim Ratcliffe. In a statement responding to Keir Starmer’s call for Ratcliffe to apologise, Farage said:
Britain has undergone unprecedented mass immigration that has changed the character of many areas in our country.
Labour may try to ignore that but Reform won’t.
Lib Dems and Greens condemn Ratcliffe - while Tories offer only mild criticism, saying migration 'of great concern to millions'
The Liberal Democrats and the Greens have joined those strongly criticising Jim Ratcliffe’s claim that the UK is being “colonised” by migrants.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, posted this reponse on social media:
Totally wrong. Totally out of step with British values. He should apologise now.
And the Green party issued this statement from its byelection candidate in Gorton and Denton, Hannah Spencer.
I challenge Jim Ratcliffe to join me on Stockport Road, meet the hard-working business people, struggling residents, and look them in the eye and listen to them.
I have and I know that they are sickened by his views and demand his apology.
This is Britain’s seventh-richest man, who moved to tax-free Monaco in 2020 and owns Manchester United punching down on the people in this constituency. What disgusting and racist comments. No wonder Reform leader Nigel Farage has backed him.
But the Conservative party has been much more muted in its criticism. This is what Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said when asked about Ratcliffe’s comments this morning.
I wouldn’t use that term colonised. I think it’s pejorative and suggests there’s some kind of huge negativity around the motivations of those people that come here. And I don’t think that’s the case across the piece.
But he is referencing something that is of great concern to millions of people up and down the country, that migration has been too high for too long.
When we were in government, we were doing something about that at the tail end of the Conservative government. We’ve seen those figures coming down as a consequence of our action.
But we do need to be very aware of the impact that migration has, particularly illegal migration, which the government is showing no signs of being able to control.
Government source hits back after ex-FCO permanent secretary warns against Antonia Romeo being made cabinet secretary
Sir Simon McDonald, the former permanent secretary of the Foreign Office, has urged No 10 to do “more due diligence” as it prepares to replace the cabinet secretary, Chris Wormald, with Antonia Romeo, the frontrunner for the role. Rowena Mason has the story.
Steven Swinford from the Times says McDonald’s comments have provoked a furious backlash from people within government. He has posted this comment from a government source.
This is a desperate attempt from a senior male official whose time has passed but spent their career getting Britain into the mess it finds itself in today. A computer says no culture, that cannot challenge the status quo.
Antonia is a disrupter. She isn’t settled with the status quo. She is one of the few senior officials that has always fought against the computer says no culture embedded in the British state
In light of the crisis we face as a country, Antonia is exactly the leadership the civil service need to embrace systemic reform to rewire the state, take on vested interest and deliver for the British people.
UK economy grows by only 0.1% amid falling business investment
The UK economy expanded by only 0.1% in the final three months of last year, according to official data, as falling business investment and weak consumer spending led to little momentum going into 2026. Tom Knowles has the story.
And Graeme Wearden has more reaction on his business live blog.
Football 'shining example of multiculturalism' and Ratcliffe's comments 'crass and insensitive', says GMB
The GMB union has alos criticised Jim Ratcliffe over his comments about immigration. The union represents workers employed by Ineos, the chemicals company set up and run by Ratcliffe. Andy Prendergast, the GMB’s national secretary, said:
Anyone who watches football knows the beautiful game is a shining example multiculturalism; people from across the world playing in harmony.
In light of this, Radcliffe’s crass and insensitive comments just underline how out of touch and offensive he truly is.
His reign at Man Utd has been marked by mass dismissals of loyal staff and chaos on the pitch.
Frankly, his right to comment on UK affairs should have ended the moment he sloped off to Monaco to avoid paying his taxes.
'Inaccurate, insulting, inflammatory' - Andy Burnham condemns Ratcliffe over UK being 'colonised' by migrants claim
Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, has joined those criticising Jim Ratcliffe over his claim that the UK is being “colonised” by immigrants.
Burnham said in a statement:
These comments go against everything for which Manchester has traditionally stood: a place where people of all races, faiths and none have pulled together over centuries to build our city and our institutions, including Manchester United FC.
Calling for curbs on levels of immigration is one thing; portraying those who come here as a hostile invading force is quite another.
It is inaccurate, insulting, inflammatory and should be withdrawn.
He also suggested that Ratcliffe has been “siphoning wealth” out of Manchester United, while offering “little contribution” to the city.
Minister escalates row with ‘hypocritical’ Ratcliffe over claim UK colonised by immigrants
Good morning. As Joe Coughlan and Rob Davies report, last night Downing Street said that the Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe should apologise for his comments that the UK is being “colonised” by immigrants.
Although Ratcliffe’s claim that the UK population had increased by 12m over the past five years was shockingly and absurdly inaccurate, it was still moderately surprising that Downing Street criticised Ratcliffe so quickly and so explicitly. In the past, when public figures have made anti-immigration comments, the default government response has often been to say that they have a point and that these concerns are understandable. It is too soon to know whether the Ratcliffe rebuttal is evidence of a new approach, but Morgan McSweeney, who was the PM’s chief of staff until Sunday, was one of the figures in Downing Street most nervous about being seen as pro-immigration, and there is speculation that, with him out of the building, Starmer might be bolder about articulating his progressive instincts.
What No 10 says is important because, when the PM speaks out, ministers feel confident piling in behind. Jake Richards, the justice minister, has picked up the message. He has been doing a broadcast round this morning and he sounds like he feels licensed to escalate the attack on Ratcliffe. He told Times Radio:
[Ratcliffe] he certainly doesn’t have to apologise for having an opinion. But personally, and I think, the prime minister thinks, that that language is offensive to so many people.
It is completely absurd to think that our country is being ‘colonised’, which implies some kind of invasion or taken over. That’s not right at all.
Richards also suggested Ratcliffe was a hypocrite.
Let’s just be very clear that Jim Ratcliffe’s comments yesterday both were offensive in terms of the language used, he got his facts wrong, and there’s also something that I find quite offensive, that this man who moved to Monaco to save £4bn in tax is now lecturing us about immigration. There’s something that I find slightly hypocritical about that.
It is hard to imagine Richards letting rip like this if McSweeney were still in charge in Downing Street.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: NHS England publishes its monthly performance figures.
Morning: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is due to speak to the media on a visit to a training centre in the south of England.
Morning: Wes Streeting, the health secretary, is visiting a Manchester hospital.
11am: Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, speaks at a night-time economy conference in Liverpool. Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, the mayors of Greater Manchester and Liverpool city region respectively, are also speaking.
Morning: David Lammy, the deputy PM and justice secretary, is visiting a youth offending service in south London.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Noon: John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, takes questions from MSPs.
1.30pm: The Manchester Evening News is hosting a Gorton and Denton byelection debate.
And the government is publishing its representation of the people bill, which will lower the voting age to 16.
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