London, 12 February (H.S.):

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer issued a scathing condemnation on Wednesday evening, labelling remarks by Manchester United co-owner and billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe as offensive and wrong, while urging the Ineos founder to apologise for asserting that the United Kingdom has been colonised by immigrants.

Speaking to Sky News economics editor Ed Conway on the sidelines of the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, Belgium, the 73-year-old Brexit advocate—who relocated to tax haven Monaco in 2020—lamented an economy saddled with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in, claiming the UK's population ballooned from 58 million in 2020 to 70 million, a 12-million surge he attributed to immigration's fiscal toll.

Office for National Statistics data, however, refutes this, pegging mid-2025 population at 69.4 million against 66.7 million in mid-2020, underscoring inaccuracies in Ratcliffe's narrative.

Political Firestorm and Leadership Rebuke

A No. 10 spokesperson echoed Starmer's call, warning Ratcliffe's rhetoric plays into the hands of those who want to divide our country, as the premier extolled Britain as a proud, tolerant and diverse country.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey deemed the comments totally wrong and totally out of step with British values, while Reform UK's Nigel Farage defended the sentiment on X, decrying unprecedented mass immigration that has changed the character of many areas.

Ratcliffe likened governmental resolve to his own unpopular Manchester United overhauls—450 redundancies, managerial sackings since acquiring a 27.7% stake in 2024—insisting leaders must embrace transient disdain to confront worklessness and migration, critiquing Starmer as too nice for difficult things.

Fan Backlash and Contextual Ironies

Manchester United Supporters Trust repudiated the discourse on X, stressing no fan should feel excluded by race, religion, or nationality, with the Muslim Supporters Club decrying colonised as far-right lexicon framing migrants as invaders.

Show Racism the Red Card and Kick It Out branded the words disgraceful and deeply divisive, while The 1958 Group scorned Ratcliffe—Sunday Times Rich List's seventh-richest Briton at £17 billion—for opining from Monaco on national woes, amid Ineos' £120 million government subsidy safeguarding 500 jobs.

Ineos and United have been approached for response; Ratcliffe, recently praising Reform's Farage as intelligent yet paralleling Starmer's intentions, advocated courage over popularity.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar