By William James
LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned comments by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe who said Britain had been "colonised by immigrants", saying they were wrong and would play into the hands of those who wanted to divide the country.
Ratcliffe, one of Britain's most successful businessmen who founded the chemicals giant INEOS and owns nearly a third of Manchester United, told Sky News that high migration and people living on benefits were damaging the economy.
"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," Ratcliffe said in an interview aired on Wednesday.
"The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn't it?"
MANCHESTER UNITED GROUPS URGE RATCLIFFE TO APOLOGISE
His comments have been condemned by politicians, campaigners and by fan groups at Manchester United, including its Muslim Supporters Club who said the term "colonised" was frequently used by far-right activists to frame migrants as invaders.
"Public discourse shapes public behaviour," the group said. "When influential figures adopt language that mirrors extremist talking points, it risks legitimising prejudice and deepening division."
Others noted that the Manchester United first team was largely made up of international players and staff, and questioned whether Ratcliffe should be commenting on British politics when he had moved to the tax haven Monaco.
Starmer said Britain was a proud, tolerant and diverse country and said Ratcliffe's comments would threaten social ties, adding: "Jim Ratcliffe should immediately apologise".
The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said Ratcliffe's comments were inflammatory and should be withdrawn.
Immigration has consistently been among the top voter concerns in Britain according to opinion polls, and has helped fuel the rise of Nigel Farage's right-wing populist party Reform UK.
Rhetoric around immigration has hardened in recent years and a wave of protests broke out last summer outside hotels housing asylum seekers. Widespread rioting also occurred in 2024, sparked by false information circulating online that a teenager who killed three young girls was an Islamist migrant.
Sky said Ratcliffe had cited incorrect figures to back up his argument. He said the population had risen from 58 million to 70 million people since 2020. The Office for National Statistics estimates the UK population was 67 million in mid-2020 and 69 million in mid-2024.
The population was around 59 million in 2000.
Farage responded to the comments by saying that Britain had undergone mass immigration that had changed the character of many areas in the country. "Labour may try to ignore that but Reform won't," he said.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti and William James; writing by Kate Holton; editing by Edward Tobin and Toby Chopra)
