Sir JIM RATCLIFFE says ‘the UK has been colonised by immigrants’

Thursday, February 12, 2026 - Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe has sparked controversy after claiming that the UK has been “colonised by immigrants” and suggesting that Prime Minister Keir Starmer may be “too nice” for the scale of the challenges facing the country.

The INEOS founder made the remarks during an interview with Sky News, where he argued that the UK economy cannot sustain high levels of immigration alongside what he described as significant numbers of people on benefits.

“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,” he said. “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.”

However, data from the Office for National Statistics estimates the UK population was approximately 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024. The population was around 58.9 million in 2000.

Ratcliffe added that the prime minister must be willing to take difficult and potentially unpopular decisions to address economic and social pressures.

“I think it needs somebody who’s prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out,” he said, while describing Starmer as having positive attributes but facing a “tough job.”

He also referred to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as an “intelligent” man “with good intentions,” although he suggested that Starmer shared similar qualities.

Ratcliffe, who was a vocal supporter of Brexit, has previously criticised successive Conservative governments over immigration policy, arguing they failed to reduce net migration after the UK left the European Union. In the latest interview, he said Brexit “didn’t turn out how people anticipated,” noting that the 2016 referendum campaign “was largely about immigration.”

His comments come amid renewed focus on migration figures. Government data shows tens of thousands of migrants have arrived in the UK in recent months, including crossings by small boats across the Channel. January figures were lower than in previous years, a drop widely attributed to severe winter weather conditions.

Ratcliffe also criticised broader economic management, saying the country needs to become “sharper on the business front” and focus on competitive energy costs to drive growth.