“Offensive and wrong. Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise.”
The Prime Minister has called on the co-owner of Manchester United Football club, Jim Ratcliffe, to apologise for his disgraceful comments in which he said the UK was being colonised by immigrants.
In comments made during an interview with Sky News, Ratcliffe, who lives in tax-free Monaco, said: “You can’t afford … you can’t have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in.
“The UK is being colonised by immigrants, really, isn’t it?
“I mean, the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million people.”
His comments led to widespread criticism, with Kick It Out posting a statement on X: “Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comments are disgraceful and deeply divisive at a time when football does so much to bring communities together.
“In addition to the inaccurate figures mentioned, it’s worth reminding him that Manchester United has a diverse fan base and plays in a city whose cultural history has been enriched by immigrants.
“This type of language and leadership has no place in English football, and we believe most fans will feel the same.”
Now the Prime Minister has also criticised Ratcliffe’s comments, posting on X: “Offensive and wrong. Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise.”
A Downing Street spokesperson added that Ratcliffe’s remarks “play into the hands of those who want to divide our country” and called on him to “immediately” apologise.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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