During her appearance on Question Time on Thursday, Nadine Dorries defended Sir Jim Ratcliffe — despite admitting the billionaire “got his numbers wrong” with his immigration rant
The audience of BBC Question Time clapped as Nadine Dorries was challenged during a discussion about immigration last night.
The politician, who last year defected from the Conservatives to Reform, defended billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe who came under scrutiny this week for claiming the UK has been “colonised by immigrants”. Despite acknowledging the manchester-united-fc>Manchester United part-owner “got his numbers wrong” with references to migrants living in the UK, Ms Dorries continued to support the billionaire, insisting immigration “is out of control”.
But she brazenly interrupted fellow panellist Ellie Chowns, Green Party MP for North Herefordshire, who cut back to skewer the former culture secretary. Ms Chowns said: “I let you finish your sentence, I’d like to finish mine. Reform, and before it the Brexit Party and before it UKIP have been busy for many years fermenting this idea that immigration is the problem in this country. It’s completely untrue, inequality is the problem in this country.
“Housing is a problem in this country, because we have had 40 years of governments not investing in housing. The health problems we have got in this country are because we have governments, including the government of which you were a part for 14 years, failing to invest in our public services, presiding over decline.”
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This led to warm applause from the audience in Bristol last night. One member of which has asked the panel whether they felt the UK has been “colonised by immigrants,” as per Sir Jim’s claims.
Ms Dorries insisted the entrepreneur’s point was “right on immigration”. Speaking on the BBC show, Ms Dorries, the former MP for Mid Bedfordshire, said: “He dipped his toe in the political water, and got it bitten off. He did choose a poor choice of words, but I actually think fundamentally he got his point across and he made a very good point.
“He did get his statistics wrong. It is 12 million since 2012 the population has increased by, I believe. You can’t increase the population by 12 million without your NHS suffering, and education, public services ad health suffering.”
Ms Chowns pointed out Sir Jim, who has been part owner of Manchester United since February 2024, appeared to suggest this rise had happened in the past six years, which is inaccurate. It’s estimated by the Office for National Statistics that the population of the UK was 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024. In 2000, the UK population was estimated to be 58.9 million.
The billionaire yesterday apologised for his remarks but, even then, Manchester United issued a statement distancing the club away from Sir Jim, 73, in which they reaffirmed their commitment to integration and inclusivity.
Eight players who started the Red Devils’ last game – a 1-1 draw against West Ham United at the London Stadium – were born overseas. Only two of the nine substitutes for the match were British.