Keir Starmer Demands Apology From Sir Jim Ratcliffe After 'Offensive' and 'Wrong' Comments

Keir Starmer has called on Sir Jim Ratcliffe to apologise after the Manchester United co-owner said that the UK has been "colonised by immigrants".

Ratcliffe, who is the founder and chairman of INEOS, one of the world’s largest chemical companies, was speaking at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp when he warned that Britain faces political, social and economic challenges.

One of those challenges, according to Ratcliffe, is an unprecedented rise in immigration.

Speaking in an interview with Sky News, he said: "You can't have an economy with nine-million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonised. It's costing too much money."

Ratcliffe added: "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."

Despite his comments, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimates the population of the UK was 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024. Back in 2000, the UK population was estimated at 58.9 million.

Manchester United part-owner has told @EdConwaySky the UK has been "colonised" by immigrants, who are draining resources from the state, as he warns of the country facing profound political, social and economic challenges.

🔗 https://t.co/bie6uFZ1Tp pic.twitter.com/qFpiO0HkfO

— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 11, 2026

On Wednesday night, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Ratcliffe's comments "offensive" and "wrong", adding: "Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise."

In the interview, Ratcliffe also suggested Starmer was “maybe too nice” and said politicians needed to “do some difficult things with the UK to get it back on track”.

Ratcliffe also said Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was an “intelligent man” with “good intentions", adding: "But in a way, you could say exactly the same about Keir when Keir came in."

He continued: “I think it needs somebody who’s prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out.”

Ratcliffe also gave his thoughts on his time as Manchester United co-owner and compared it to the current situation in the UK.

"I've seen quite a bit of this at the football club," he said. "If you do difficult things, which we felt that we had to do at Manchester United... we felt like they were the right things to do. But you do become very unpopular for a while.

"Well, I've been very unpopular at Manchester United because we've made lots of changes. But for the better, in my view. And I think we're beginning to see some evidence in the football club that that's beginning to pay off.

"But you've got all the same issues with the country. If you really want to deal with the major issues of immigration, with people opting to take benefits rather than working for a living, if you want to deal with that, then you're going to have to do some things which are unpopular, and show some courage."