Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is facing a backlash after claiming Britain is being “colonized by immigrants” and feels it costs “too much money”.
Piers Morgan slams Sir Jim Ratcliffe (Image: PA)
Piers Morgan has targeted Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe following his extraordinary immigration rant.
The 73-year-old billionaire yesterday claimed Britain was “colonized by immigrants” and described Nigel Farage as an “intelligent man” with “good intentions”. The entrepreneur faced a backlash over his comments, with Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club (MUMSC) saying they were “deeply concerned” by the comments.
Now controversial broadcaster Piers has weighed in on the controversy, branding Sir Jim a “stinky racially attacking hypocrite”. Piers posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Apart from his blatant lies and ignorance about UK population numbers, Ratcliffe is an immigrant in exile in Monaco and most of the Manchester United team are immigrants to the UK. So he is a stinking racist hypocrite.”
The post has been viewed more than 1.2 million times and liked 20,000 times on social media platforms. Sir Jim’s remarks, broadcast on Sky News earlier in the day, sparked a lively debate.
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Piers, who hosted ITV’s Good Morning Britain from 2015 to 2021, was referring to Manchester United’s team, which featured eight overseas-born starters in Tuesday’s final game. Of the nine substitutes for the game against West Ham United at the London Stadium, only two were British.
But Sir Jim, owner of petrochemical conglomerate INEOS, said: “An economy with nine million people on benefits and huge numbers of immigrants coming in is not viable. So Britain is being colonized. It’s too expensive. Britain has been colonized by immigrants, isn’t it?”
But the billionaire, who splits his time between Monaco and a waterside mansion in Hampshire, inaccurately added: “So the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020 and now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million.”
The Office for National Statistics estimates that the UK’s population was 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024. In 2000, the UK’s population was estimated at 58.9 million.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe goes on a rant about immigration (Image: PA)
Keir Starmer also criticized Sir Jim yesterday. The Prime Minister branded the Manchester United co-owner’s comments “offensive” and called for an apology. In a social media post, Starmer said: “It’s offensive and wrong. Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologize.”
And Labor MP Alex Sobel, whose parents came to the UK from Israel, slammed the “outrageous” comments. “My parents came to this country in the 1970s and have made significant contributions as educators, businesspeople, and community volunteers. Across this country, immigrants have contributed and enriched our culture,” he said.
The MP for Leeds Central and Headingley added: “These are outrageous and inflammatory statements from an insane, multi-millionaire businessman who has no empathy for families who are clearly in dire straits. It is shameful that they seek to stigmatize migrants and welfare recipients in this way.”
