Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe apologizes for anti-immigrant comments

Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said Thursday he was sorry if some were offended by his anti-immigrant comments.

The billionaire co-owner of Manchester United was criticized by both political leaders and fans after saying Britain had been ‘colonised’ by immigrants hgtgdfgdtr14.

Ratcliffe, the founder and chairman of chemicals maker Ineos, is one of Britain’s richest people and an influential voice in politics and economics.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that Jim Ratcliffe’s comments were «offensive and wrong». Ratcliffe issued a statement on Thursday saying he «regrets that my choice of language has offended some people in Britain and Europe.»

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Ratcliffe, who lives in the tax haven of Monaco, made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with Sky News, in which he discussed the challenges facing the European chemical industry, politics and the weakness of the British economy.

“You can’t have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and a huge amount of immigrants coming in,” Ratcliffe said. «I mean, Britain has been colonized.»

Published on February 12, 2026