Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Jim Ratcliffe to apologize for his “offensive and wrong” remarks
An anti-migrant protest in Crowborough, East Sussex, January 25, 2026. © Maja Smiejkowska / PA Images via Getty Images
[RT] British
chemical industry tycoon Jim Ratcliffe has blamed the rapid influx of
foreigners for the country’s economic problems, saying the UK “is being colonized by immigrants.” The 73-year-old drew criticism from Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the remarks.
In
a Sky News interview on Wednesday, the founder and CEO of INEOS
chemicals group, who also co-owns English football giants Manchester
United, argued that “you can’t have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in.”
“The UK is being colonized by immigrants, really, isn’t it? The population of the UK is 58 million in 2020, now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million people,” Ratcliffe added.
Government data shows the UK population surpassed 58 million in 1995 and was over 66 million in 2020.
Starmer said Ratcliffe should apologize for his “offensive and wrong” comments and described the UK as “a proud, tolerant and diverse country.”
Ratcliffe is Britain’s seventh-richest person with an estimated
£17.05 billion ($23.22 billion) fortune. He bought a stake in Manchester
United in February 2024, and donated £100 million to Oxford University
in 2021 to establish an institute for antimicrobial research.
He
supported the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, but is now a tax resident of
Monaco. He has previously called mass migration a drain on social
services. Ratcliffe backed Starmer in the 2024 election but has also
spoken favorably of anti-migration politician Nigel Farage, whose Reform
UK party is gaining voter support.
The Starmer government’s
pro-migration advocacy recently backfired. The state-funded narrative
game ‘Pathways’, designed to discourage teen radicalization, drew
audience sympathy for its antagonist, a purple-haired anti-immigrant
goth girl named Amelia.
Critics noted the game not only sought to
advise young people against protesting immigration but also cautioned
against researching its effects – activities they said constitute normal
civic engagement.