‘Offensive and wrong’: Keir Starmer condemns Manchester United’s Jim Ratcliffe for comments on immigrants

The Athletic ^ | Feb. 11, 2026 | Adam Crafton

[MinorityRepublican]

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been condemned by the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer after claiming that Britain has been “colonised by immigrants”.

In an interview with Sky News, Ratcliffe, a British tax exile who has resided in Monaco since 2020, offered misleading and inaccurate observations about the UK’s immigrant population, and vastly misrepresented the number of people in the UK who claim benefits.

Responding in a post on X on Wednesday night, Starmer said of Ratcliffe’s comments: “Offensive and wrong. Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise.”

Starmer’s Labour colleague Stella Creasy, who is the British MP for Walthamstow, also rebuked Ratcliffe. She wrote on X: “Man U’s starting line up last night would have been three players and the bench would have consisted of just two. Ratcliffe doesn’t seem to understand the contribution they make to his own team, let alone this country – but then as he is an immigrant himself.”

Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, echoed Starmer’s criticism, saying: “Totally wrong. Totally out of step with British values. He should apologise now.”

The Manchester United Muslim Supporters’ Club published a statement on Wednesday night, saying it was “deeply concerned by recent remarks” by Ratcliffe and warning that the language he used, describing immigrants as “colonisers”, echoes “language freuqently used in far-right narratives that frame migrants as invaders and demographic threats.”

The group cited increased hate crime figures against Muslim and Jewish communities, and warned that the use of “extremist talking points” could legitimise “prejudice and deepen division.”

The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust also condemned the comments, saying: “Manchester United belongs to all of its supporters.

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TOPICS: United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: unitedkingdom

[Secret Agent Man]

In Oceania, being right means being wrong.

[TigersEye]

Starmer is just a cuck gleefully watching the “migrants” rape Britain.

And the rape is quite literal for tens of thousands of British girls.

[srmanuel]

I’m surprised the Owner making these statements has been arrested and charged with some type of hate speech crime.

If he were just an average white UK citizen, he would already been charged and likely in jail.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

The British Isles need a strong ethnic cleansing with bleach and lye soap.

[Texas Eagle]

I sense a new Amelia song coming.

[Texas Eagle]

Amelia for Prime Minister!

[Cronos]

The UK has welcomed immigrants before but the caveats are that these were:

1. in smaller numbers and
2. non-Mohammedans.

the UK was diverse right from its founding in 1707. Even England is and was diverse. After 1700 they had not only the various ethnicities - both local (highlanders, Glaswegians, yorkshiremen, west country, midlands , etc.) and non-local: Sephardic Jews (like Benjamin Disraeli’s ancestors), Huguenots, Poles, Dutch, etc. etc.

And it worked

But when they brought in Mohammedans it didn’t work.

i would note that Indian sub-continent Christians merged quite well into British society. And even Indian sub-continent Hindus, Sikhs and buddhists have merged, if not completely assimilated, but they get along well.