Billionaire Manchester United co-owner sparks outrage by claiming UK ‘colonized by immigrants’

By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire co-owner of Manchester United, has sparked widespread outrage for claiming the UK has been “colonized by immigrants,” with club supporters condemning his language as dangerous and divisive and the prime minister demanding an apology.

Ratcliffe, who founded petrochemical company Ineos and is one of Britain’s richest men, apologized in a statement on Thursday for his “choice of language” – but only after a storm of outrage that drew in senior politicians and football fans alike.

“I don’t think the (British) economy is in a good place,” Ratcliffe told Sky News on Wednesday. “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 colonized. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonized by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?”

He cited incorrect population figures, claiming the UK’s population had risen from 58 million in 2020 to 70 million people today. In reality, the UK’s population has increased from 67 million in 2020 to 69.5 million people, according to estimates by the Office for National Statistics.

Ratcliffe’s remarks prompted widespread criticism, including from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer who called on him to apologize, saying his comments were “offensive and wrong” and that “Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country.”

The Football Association, soccer’s governing body, will examine whether his comments brought the game into disrepute, according to PA.

Ratcliffe said he was sorry that his choice of language had offended people, but added that “it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth.”

CNN has contacted Ineos for comment.

Ratcliffe, who is the seventh richest man in Britain with a net worth of around £17 billion ($23 billion) according to the Sunday Times Rich List, moved to tax-free Monaco in 2020.

In December 2025, his company Ineos accepted a support package from the British government worth over £120 million ($164 million) to prevent its chemical plant in Grangemouth, Scotland from closing with the loss of 500 jobs. Ineos also invested £150 million ($205 million) into the site.

Successive British governments have pledged to reduce immigration which, like in other Western countries, has become a political flashpoint.

Net migration to the UK reached record levels in 2022, swelled by the war in Ukraine and the post-pandemic lifting of travel restrictions, but has since dropped off sharply.

Ratcliffe’s comments align with the arguments made by Britain’s right-wing populist Reform UK party, which ties its anti-immigrant message to language about protecting the country.

Responding to Starmer’s criticism of Ratcliffe’s comments, the Reform leader Nigel Farage said, “Britain has undergone unprecedented mass immigration that has changed the character of many areas in our country.”

But his choice of words was condemned by Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as “inaccurate, insulting (and) inflammatory.”

“Footballers who have arrived from all over the world to play in Greater Manchester have enhanced the life of our city-region, as have the many people working in Greater Manchester’s NHS and other essential services and industries,” added Burnham, who represents Britain’s ruling Labour Party.

Manchester United boasts an enormous global fanbase and supporter groups expressed anger over Ratcliffe’s comments.

The Manchester United Supporters Trust said the club “belongs to all of its supporters.”

“No fan should feel excluded from following or supporting the club because of their race, religion, nationality or background,” it added. “Comments from the club’s senior leadership should make inclusion easier, not harder.”

The Stretford Sikhs supporters club emphasized immigrants’ contributions to the city of Manchester and warned that “using language that alienates the very people who built this city and support this club is dangerous and divisive.”

And the Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club said the use of the word colonized “echoes language frequently used in far-right narratives that frame migrants as invaders and demographic threats.”

“Such rhetoric has real-world consequences,” the group added. “The UK has experienced sustained increases in hate crimes in recent years, including rises in Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, racially motivated attacks, and hostility towards migrants and people of color.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.