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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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A co-owner of the English soccer club Manchester United has apologized following backlash after he said the U.K. has been "colonized by immigrants," sparking a rebuke from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Ratcliffe said in a statement Thursday: "I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the U.K. and Europe and caused concern, but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth."
In an interview with Sky News, Jim Ratcliffe suggested Starmer was "too nice" to do "difficult things" for the country's economy.
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"You can't have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in," Ratcliffe said. "I mean The U.K. has been colonized. It's costing too much money," he added.
"The U.K. has been colonized by immigrants, really, hasn't it? I mean, the population of the U.K. was 58 million in 2020. Now it's 70 million. That's 12 million people," Ratcliffe continued.
The U.K.'s population in mid-2025 was 69.4 million compared with 66.7 million in mid-2020, according to the country's Office for National Statistics.
Starmer called on Ratcliffe apologize. "Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country," the prime minister said.
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Ratcliffe was the seventh richest person in the U.K. in 2025, with a net worth of about £17 billion ($23 billion), according to The Sunday Times' Rich List. He moved from the U.K. to Monaco in 2020.
In a statement, the U.K. government said Ratcliffe's comments "play into the hands of those who want to divide our country."
Ratcliffe said he had met Reform U.K. leader Nigel Farage, who has appeared at rallies of U.S. President Donald Trump, and described him as an "intelligent man" with "good intentions." Farage wrote on X on Wednesday, "Britain has undergone unprecedented mass immigration that has changed the character of many areas in our country."
A backer of the U.K.'s withdrawal from the EU, Ratcliffe supported Starmer before the 2024 election, but he has previously made comments about immigration being too high. Ratcliffe told Sky News in May 2024, "A small island like the U.K. can't cope with vast numbers of people coming in."
The billionaire's latest remarks were condemned by fan groups, including the Manchester United Supporters Trust, which wrote on X, "Comments from the club's senior leadership should make inclusion easier, not harder."
Ratcliffe, a former chemical engineer, founded INEOS petrochemicals group in May 1998. He is a chair and majority owner of the company, which operates in 27 countries and employs more than 24,500 people.
In February 2024, he spent £1 billion to acquire a 25 percent stake in Manchester United and has overseen major cost-saving measures such as job cuts.
Update 2/12/26, 4:22 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Update 2/12/26, 8:40 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with Jim Ratcliffe's media statement.
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