Gary Lineker labelled Sir Jim Ratcliffe an ‘economic migrant’ as he hit out at the Manchester United co-owner, who claimed Britain has been ‘colonised by immigrants’ who are ‘costing too much money’.
The former Match of the Day host said that Ratcliffe was attempting to ‘divide us’ and highlighted the ‘hypocrisy’ in his recent statements.
Speaking at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, Ratcliffe told Sky News: ‘You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in.
‘I mean, the UK has been colonised by immigrants really, hasn’t it? It’s costing too much money.’
Responding to the comments on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker said: ‘The guy’s a migrant himself. An economic migrant.’
‘He lives in Monaco. I mean, you can have a gripe all you like, but at least be here and be paying tax and contributing to our society.’
He added that migrants in the UK ‘contribute enormously’ and ‘facts show you that in terms of revenue and paying tax’.
‘Whereas Jim out here in Monaco is doing everything you can to avoid paying tax, I would suggest,’ Lineker continued.
The former Match of the Day host Gary Lineker said that Ratcliffe was attempting to ‘divide us’ and highlighted the ‘hypocrisy’ in his statements
Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has said that Britain has been ‘colonised’ by immigrants he says are ‘costing too much money’ in a bombshell interview. He has now apologised for his choice of language – not raising the issue
Ratcliffe also questioned whether Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is the right man to lead the country forward, arguing ‘he may be too nice’.
‘You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,’ the 73-year-old businessman told Sky News ahead of the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, Belgium.
Lineker first pointed to Ratcliffe being ‘obviously incorrect’ in his claims that the population of the UK had increased by 12million in six years, from 58million in 2020 to 70million today.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK population was estimated to be 70 million in mid-2024, up from 67 million in 2020, and 58.9 million in 2000.
Last year, Lineker compared the then Conservative government’s policy on asylum seekers arriving in small boats with 1930s Nazi Germany.
The 64-year-old has said his bosses at the BBC were ‘silly’ for taking him off air during yet another impartiality crisis of his own making, insisting it was a ‘ridiculous overreaction’.
Doubling down on his views in a series of incendiary tweets from 2023 that led to his suspension, he told Amol Rajan: ‘I don’t regret saying them publicly, because I was right – what I said, it was accurate.’
In March 2023, Lineker was suspended and taken off the BBC when he shared a video of Mrs Braverman outlining the Illegal Migration Bill aimed at stopping the flow of people crossing the Channel by preventing them claiming asylum.
Lineker went on to call Ratcliffe’s comments ‘deeply concerning’. ‘You are one of the owners of Manchester United, a club that has a lot of players from overseas,’ he said.
‘When he talks about being colonised by immigrants, is it okay for a white person to live abroad and not a brown or black person? I don’t know, only he can answer that question.
‘Lots and lots of my friends who support Manchester United have come on and said similar things to what I’m saying now.
‘I think they are very disappointed in that.’
Following backlash to his comments, Ratcliffe, who is also facing an FA probe, said in a statement that he was ‘sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe’.
But he added: ‘It is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth’.
Ratcliffe’s apology came as the Football Association revealed it would examine whether his comments about immigrants have brought the game into disrepute.
Sir Jim had also admitted he was unsure whether Sir Keir Starmer, pictured in PMQs yesterday, is the right man to be Prime Minister
Sir Keir’s tweet demanding that Sir Jim apologises
Controversial Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was given a five-match stadium ban in 2024 after being found guilty of an ‘improper conduct’ charge.
Sir Jim’s words on immigration and the economy in an interview with Sky News caused a political storm and upset Manchester United fans who said the club’s owner was being divisive.
Senior Manchester United officials are said to be ‘mortified’ by his comments, amid fears over the impact on players and plans for a new £2billion stadium, the Daily Mail’s Mike Keegan reports.
Sir Jim also suggested that Sir Keir Starmer was not up to the job. The Prime Minister then said it was ‘offensive and wrong’ to claim Britain had been ‘colonised by immigrants’ and urged him to apologise ‘immediately’, declaring: ‘Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country’.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘The PM asked for an apology and one has been issued. He is right to make that apology.’
But Nigel Farage was among those who defended the Ineos billionaire.
The Reform UK leader dismissed the PM’s calls for Sir Jim to row back, accusing Labour of trying to ‘ignore’ the impact of immigration on the UK.
He said: ‘Britain has undergone unprecedented mass immigration that has changed the character of many areas in our country. Labour may try to ignore that but Reform won’t’.
Broadcaster Simon Jordan said his words were ‘clumsy’ but that Sir Jim’s ‘underlying sentiment’ on the impact of immigration on the UK is ‘right’.
He said: ‘Politicians are weaponising this and using it for their own end. But the reality is the premise of what he’s saying is fundamentally correct.
‘No one has had a population explosion like we have.
‘He lives in a country where he has freedom of speech. He doesn’t have to apologise. He’s entitled to say what he thinks’.
He also called Sir Keir a ‘snivelling coward’ because he apologised for saying the UK risked becoming ‘an island of strangers’ in a speech about immigration last year.
Mr Jordan said the PM made the comments because there was ‘political capital’ in it and then rowed back on it.
‘He is a coward and could not take the heat of what he said’, the former Crystal Palace owner added.
As well as criticising UK immigration levels, Sir Jim had also questioned whether Sir Keir was the right man to lead the country in his interview yesterday.
He said that the PM ‘may be too nice’ for the job and that ‘difficult’ decisions were needed by those in power to rescue the economy, which grew by just 0.1% in the final quarter of last year, official figures revealed today.
Responding to his immigration comments in a post on X, the Prime Minister wrote: ‘Offensive and wrong. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise.’
Sir Jim is also facing a backlash from Manchester United fans. Protest group The ’58 called him ‘a total embarrassment’. The Manchester United Supporters Trust said he was ‘marginalising’ the club’s fanbase.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who has been working closely with United on its £2billion stadium project, says Ratcliffe’s words ‘go against everything for which Manchester has traditionally stood’.
Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe said: ‘Ratcliffe is right. And I respect him for having the balls to say it’, adding: ‘It [the UK] has been colonised by immigrants. That’s just a fact. No point pussyfooting around it’.
Britain is still open to business with Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s companies despite his claim that the UK is being ‘colonised’ by migrants, Rachel Reeves suggested.
Speaking during a visit to Crawley, the Chancellor was asked if the Government still planned to provide support for Sir Jim’s businesses in Grangemouth and Runcorn.
Ms Reeves replied: ‘Investment in Grangemouth is to support jobs in Grangemouth and support vital industries in Scotland and in the UK.
‘But what Jim Ratcliffe said was unacceptable. It was disgusting, frankly, and he should apologise for his remarks, but I’m not going to let what Jim Ratcliffe has said determine the future of jobs in Scotland.
‘It is really important that we invest in our industrial base in Scotland and right across the UK.’
She added: ‘Our country benefits hugely from its diversity. We see that in our businesses, we see that in our universities, we see that in our cultural life, and we are richer because of the diversity of our country.’
Ratcliffe has been widely unpopular with Man United fans since purchasing his stake in the club on December 24, 2023
In an interview with Sky News, the Ineos owner said: ‘You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in.
‘I mean, the UK has been colonised by immigrants really, hasn’t it? It’s costing too much money. The population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million people.’
The UK population was estimated to be 70 million in mid-2024, up from 67 million in 2020, and 58.9 million in 2000, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The 73-year-old businessman also questioned whether Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is the right man to lead the country forward in a bombshell new interview, arguing ‘he may be too nice’.
He added: ‘I don’t know whether it’s just the apparatus that hasn’t allowed Keir to do it or, or he’s maybe too nice – I mean, Keir is a nice man.
‘I like him, but it’s a tough job and I think you have to do some difficult things with the UK to get it back on track, because at the moment I don’t think the economy is in a good state.’
The population of the UK was estimated to have been 70 million in mid-2024, according to the Office for National Statistics, three million higher than that recorded during 2020.
65,922 illegal migrants have reached the United Kingdom by small boat since Sir Keir’s time in No 10 Downing Street began in July 2024 – more than under any other PM in history.
And Sir Keir’s Justice minister Jake Richards claimed this morning that the Ineos billionaire is ‘hypocritical’ to criticise the Government on migration, because he has ‘moved to Monaco to save £4billion in tax’.
‘One might question whether he is the patriot we need to comment on this issue’, he said.
Kick It Out – the anti-discrimination football campaign group – criticised Sir Jim’s comments, including the claim that the UK population has swelled by 12 million since 2020.
In a statement to the Press Association, Kick It Out said: ‘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.’