Reform did not get permission from Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe to use his comments in promotional video
Reform has used inflammatory comments about immigration made by Ratcliffe and Harry Redknapp in a promotional video
Reform UK did not seek permission from the co-owner of Manchester United, Jim Ratcliffe, to use anti-immigration comments he made in a promotional video.
In an interview with Sky News in February, Ratcliffe was criticised for saying that the UK had been “colonised by immigrants”.
The billionaire co-owner of Manchester United and founder of chemical company INEOS cited incorrect figures to back up his claim, telling Sky: “I mean, the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million people.”
According to the Office for National Statistics, the estimate for the UK’s population in mid-2025 was 69.4 million, external, compared with 66.7 million in mid-2020.
As reported by The Athletic, INEOS, the petrochemical firm which Ratcliffe controls, confirmed he had no knowledge of the video and did not give permission for his words to be used in it.
The company did not confirm whether they had asked Reform to take down the video.
Reform told the Athletic that as the clip was taken from an interview Ratcliffe did with Sky News, which was publicly broadcast, they did not need permission from INEOS to use the footage.
Nigel Farage’s party also said that as far as they were aware, neither INEOS nor Ratcliffe has complained, and it has no plans to remove or alter the video.
In the wake of Ratcliffe’s anti-immigration comments, United head coach Michael Carrick said that the club is proud of its equality and diversity, while a statement on the club’s website also said that “Manchester United prides itself on being an inclusive and welcoming club”.
Ratcliffe said that he was “sorry” that his “choice of language has offended some people”.
In a BBC’s ‘Big Boss’ interview earlier this month, Ratcliffe doubled down on his remarks, saying that the UK was “on the slide” and that “Nobody’s tough enough to deal with the immigration problem.”
In response, Manchester United’s Muslim Supporters’ Club called for Ratcliffe to leave the club.
The video also features a comment former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp made back in July, in which he claimed Britain is “overrun” by illegal migration.
In the same interview, Redknapp also claimed his hometown Bournemouth has become akin to a ‘third-world country’.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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