Sir Jim Ratcliffe spoke about immigration in the United Kingdom and making unpopular decisions at Man United.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Ratcliffe spoke to Sky News.(Image: © 2024 Bloomberg Finance LP)
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Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has claimed the United Kingdom has been "colonised" by immigrants. In an interview about politics in Britain, Ratcliffe suggested the government needed to make "difficult" decisions, which he claimed his Ineos regime had made at Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe has become a polarising figure in Manchester since he acquired a minority stake at United in February 2024. The British billionaire oversaw mass redundancies at United, cut costs across all departments, and increased match ticket prices for Premier League games to £66, with no concessions.
United fans have continued to protest against the majority owners, the Glazers, but Ratcliffe has also been the target of protests. Ratcliffe is responsible for running United's football operations.
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Speaking to Sky News to discuss politics in Britain, Ratcliffe said: "I've seen quite a bit of this at the football club. If you do difficult things, which we felt that we had to do at Manchester United.
"We felt like they were the right things to do. But you do become very unpopular for a while. Well, I've been very unpopular at Manchester United because we've made lots of changes.
"But for the better, in my view. And I think we're beginning to see some evidence in the football club that that's beginning to pay off. But you've got all the same issues with the country.
"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're going to have to do some things which are unpopular, and show some courage."
Ratcliffe has lobbied the Labour government for support for the Old Trafford regeneration project. The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, was invited into the directors' box to watch United play Arsenal in 2024.
However, Ratcliffe has suggested that Starmer may not be the right man for the job, criticising immigration levels in Britain and suggesting the economy is in a poor state.
Discussing immigration, Ratcliffe said: "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.
"The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn't it? I mean, the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it's 70 million. That's 12 million people."
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimates that the population of the UK was 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024. The UK population was estimated at 58.9 million in 2000.
Ratcliffe continued: "I don't know whether it's just the apparatus that hasn't allowed Keir to do it or, or he's maybe too nice - I mean, Keir is a nice man. I like him, but it's a tough job and I think you have to do some difficult things with the UK to get it back on track, because at the moment I don't think the economy is in a good state."
The 73-year-old revealed he had recently met Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, saying: "I think Nigel is an intelligent man, and, I think he's got good intentions. But in a way, you could say exactly the same about Keir Starmer. I think it needs somebody who's prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out."
Ahead of the general election in 2024, Ratcliffe criticised the Conservative Party and threw his support behind Starmer to become prime minister. "I like Keir. I think he’ll do a very sensible job," he said.
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