LONDON (AP) \u2014 The billionaire co-owner of the Manchester United soccer team apologized Thursday after he triggered a storm of criticism by saying that Britain had been \u201ccolonized\u201d by immigrants.<\/p>\n
The original comments from Jim Ratcliffe, who is also the founder and chairman of chemicals maker Ineos, had drawn a swift rebuke from Prime Minister Keir Starmer who described them as \u201coffensive and wrong.\u201d That sentiment was seconded by many soccer fans and figures across the spectrum of U.K. politics.<\/p>\n
The controversial remarks came in a wide-ranging interview with Sky News in which Ratcliffe touched on the challenges facing the European chemicals industry, politics and the weakness of the U.K. economy. They were a top news story in Britain where his position as one of the country\u2019s richest people and the co-owner of one of its most successful soccer clubs make him an influential voice on politics and the economy.<\/p>\n
Touching a nerve<\/p>\n
Ratcliffe said Thursday that he had intended to stress the need for governments to manage migration and invest in the economy to ensure \u201clong-term prosperity is shared by everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the U.K. and Europe and caused concern,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cBut it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ratcliffe\u2019s comments touched a nerve in Britain, where immigration is a divisive issue<\/a>. While many people celebrate the contributions of immigrants, others complain that the newcomers are straining public services and failing to integrate into British society.<\/p>\n The upstart Reform Party<\/a> and its leader, Nigel Farage, have used anti-immigrant policies to push their way into the mainstream of British politics. Reform, which won just five seats in Parliament in 2024, now leads most nationwide opinion polls.<\/p>\n Starmer\u2019s left-leaning Labour Party won a landslide victory<\/a> in that election but is now fighting for survival<\/a> after a series of policy missteps and its failure to prevent thousands of asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel<\/a> on inflatable boats. The prime minister took to social media late Wednesday to criticize Ratcliffe.<\/p>\n \u201cBritain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country,\u2019\u2019 Starmer said on X. \u201cJim Ratcliffe should apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n Even the team itself felt it necessary to issue a statement given the backlash, insisting it is an \u201cinclusive and welcoming club\u201d with a \u201cdiverse group of players.\u201d <\/p>\n Challenges to the billionaire owner<\/p>\n Others accused Ratcliffe of \u201chypocrisy\u201d because he has chosen to make his home in Monaco to reduce his U.K. tax bill.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s also something that I find quite offensive, that this man who moved to Monaco to save 4 billion pounds ($5.46 billion) in tax is now lecturing us about immigration,\u201d Justice Minister Jake Richards told Times Radio.<\/p>\n Ratcliffe told Sky News that the U.K. has \u201clots of problems,\u201d including a weak economy, crime and a struggling health care system. The government won\u2019t be able to control immigration or deal with the problem of people choosing to live on social welfare payments rather than work for a living unless it is willing to make difficult choices, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,\u201d Ratcliffe said. \u201cI mean, the U.K.\u2019s been colonized.\u201d <\/p>\n The problem with \u2018colonized\u2019<\/p>\n The use of the word \u201ccolonized\u2019\u2019 is problematic because it suggests immigrants are taking over, said Sunder Katwala, head of the think tank Britain First, which studies public attitudes on immigration and integration. This is particularly true in Britain, which is re-examining its own history as a nation that once colonized large parts of the world.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the language of colonized is that (of) dominance, subjugation, dispossession,\u2019\u2019 Katwala told the BBC. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard to have that debate in a way that makes sense to all the different kinds of people in Britain \u2014 white, Black and Asian \u2014 rather than seeming to be an argument about one group against another group.\u201d<\/p>\n Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said that his city in northern England is a place where people of all races and backgrounds have \u201cpulled together\u201d to build the community and institutions like Manchester United.<\/p>\n \u201cCalling for curbs on levels of immigration is one thing, portraying those who come here as a hostile invading force is quite another,\u201d Burnham wrote on X. \u201cIt is inaccurate, insulting and inflammatory and should be withdrawn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf any criticism is needed, it should be directed towards those who have offered little contribution to our life here and have instead spent years siphoning wealth out of one of our proudest institutions,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n Anti-racism groups also challenged Ratcliffe on his figures. He said that the U.K. population had grown to 70 million from 58 million in 2020. But the Office for National Statistics said that the U.K. population was 67 million in 2020 and was estimated to be 69.5 million in 2025.<\/p>\n A diverse fan base<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to the inaccurate figures mentioned, it\u2019s worth reminding him that Manchester United has a diverse fan base and plays in a city whose cultural history has been enriched by immigrants,\u201d the campaign group Kick It Out, which fights racism in soccer, said in a statement. \u201cThis type of language and leadership has no place in English football, and we believe most fans will feel the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Ratcliffe, a boyhood fan of United, paid $1.3 billion<\/a> for an initial 25% stake in the club in 2024.<\/p>\n He has faced protests from fans in recent weeks as supporters have criticized the United\u2019s ownership \u2014 including the U.S. Glazer family \u2014 over the running of the club.<\/p>\n Ratcliffe\u2019s investment saw him assume control of soccer operations after years of decline following the retirement of longtime manager Alex Ferguson in 2013. But he presided over United\u2019s worst-ever Premier League season<\/a> last year, and instigated swathes of cost-cutting measures<\/a>, while increasing ticket prices.<\/p>\n Ratcliffe acknowledged that recent decisions had made him unpopular with Manchester United fans. But he said those changes were needed to make the club successful, just as the government must mark tough choices to turn the country around.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got all the same issues with the country, don\u2019t you?\u201d he said. \u201cIf you want to deal the major issues \u2026 then you\u2019re going to have to do some things that are unpopular.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n James Robson contributed to this report from Manchester. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON (AP) \u2014 The billionaire co-owner of the Manchester United soccer team apologized Thursday after he triggered a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":585614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[109949,240561,64,57,409,253639,253638,17723,19831,50,25930,80,2068,19500,235115,62,618,376,103,107],"class_list":["post-585613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-alex-ferguson","tag-andy-burnham","tag-business","tag-general-news","tag-immigration","tag-jake-richards","tag-jim-ratcliffe","tag-keir-starmer","tag-monaco","tag-news","tag-nigel-farage","tag-politics","tag-race-and-ethnicity","tag-racism","tag-send-to-apple-news","tag-sports","tag-taxes","tag-united-kingdom","tag-world","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116060003609168173","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}