Starmer tells Jim Ratcliffe to apologise for saying UK ‘colonised’ by immigrants
Keir Starmer has said Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe should apologise for his comments that the UK is being “colonised” by immigrants.In an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, Britain’s seventh-richest man, who moved to tax-free Monaco in 2020, took aim at people receiving state support and immigrants.“You can’t afford … you can’t have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,” he said.“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.
”Figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate Ratcliffe’s claim is incorrect.The ONS estimated that the population of the UK was 67 million in 2020 and was last anywhere close to 58 million in 2000.Responding to the claims, the prime minister posted on X on Wednesday evening: “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.The response was in contrast to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, who told Sky News that Ratcliffe was “right to say that there are too many people who have been written off, not allowed to make the contribution that they could make to this country”.She said that people deserved an immigration system “they can trust”, claiming that both illegal and legal migration were too high while the Conservatives were in government.Ratcliffe’s criticism of the number of people on benefits comes shortly after the government awarded a £120m grant to Ineos, the chemicals company upon which his £17bn fortune largely rests, to protect 500 jobs.The billionaire, who shifted his tax residency to Monaco in 2020, is no stranger to wading into politics, having vocally backed Brexit and lobbied against green taxes and in favour of fracking.
In the interview, at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, he compared the performance of Starmer with the Reform leader Nigel Farage, whom he said he had met recently and described as an “intelligent man”,Ratcliffe said he knew Starmer, and 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,”He said Farage was “an intelligent man, and I think he’s got good intentions”,“But in a way, you could say exactly the same about Keir, when Keir came in.
I think it needs somebody who’s prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out.”Responding to the billionaire’s claims about the UK being “colonised by immigrants”, Farage told Sky News: “The country has undergone unprecedented mass immigration that has changed the character of many areas in the country.Labour may try and ignore that but Reform won’t.”Ratcliffe compared the changes he had made at Manchester United, including mass layoffs and the appointment and subsequent sacking of Ruben Amorim, to running the country.He told Sky News he had been “unpopular” but that the changes were starting to pay off.
“But you’ve got all the same issues with the country,If you really want to deal with the major issues of immigration, with people opting to take benefits rather than working for a living,” he said, the government was “going to have to do some things which are unpopular, and show some courage”,
Ukrainian skeleton athlete ready to be disqualified over ‘helmet of memory’
The Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says he is ready to be disqualified on Thursday because he does not want to betray his country’s dead athletes.In what is likely to be an extraordinary scene in Cortina when the skeleton begins at 9.30am local time (8.30am GMT), Heraskevych has vowed to wear his “helmet of memory”, even though the International Olympic Committee has told him it will kick him out if he does so.“I will not betray these athletes,” Heraskevych said after finishing first on the final day of practice
‘Casey should resign’: Abby Wambach leaves Wasserman after Epstein files
Former US soccer star Abby Wambach has announced she is leaving the Wasserman talent agency and called for its founder and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics chairman, Casey Wasserman, to resign after emails between him and Ghislaine Maxwell were revealed in the Jeffery Epstein files.The two-time gold medalist and World Cup winner shared a statement on Wednesday saying she was leaving Wasserman, an agency that represents an extensive roster of athletes and celebrities across the sports and entertainment industries.Several musical artists, including pop star Chappell Roan, have cut ties with the agency since Wasserman’s correspondence was revealed in the files. Wambach is the first figure of note from the sports world to publicly depart.“I read Casey Wasserman’s correspondences in the Epstein files
‘I’m happy to defend my country’: meet Greenland’s Olympian defying Donald Trump
Ukaleq Slettemark is a beacon of hope at a time when even the Greenlandic sports minister worries ‘Trump is crazy’ They don’t fly the flag of Greenland at the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee only recognises independent sovereign states and, as all the world, even the most distant corners of the US, now knows, Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. But the flag, which is known as the Erfalasorput, was there in the grandstands at the Anterselva Biathlon Arena all the same, even if it wasn’t flying from rooftops above it. It was being waved by all the Danish fans who wanted to show their support for the only two Greenlandic athletes competing here at Milano Cortina.Their names are Ukaleq Slettemark and Sondre Slettemark, brother and sister, and both biathletes
‘A spiral is unpredictable’: George Ford on the science of his aerial bazooka
If the late Bill McLaren were still around he would have loved George Ford’s towering “spiral bombs”. And with the temperature dropping around Murrayfield, the old commentary box catchphrase – “This one really does have snow on it” – might not be too far from the truth on Saturday. When Ford launches an up-and-under these days, the ball virtually disappears into orbit.It has reached the point where the aerial bazooka has become Ford’s party piece. A murmur of expectancy now ripples around the stadium as, standing back in the pocket, the fly-half carefully tilts the ball in his hands to ensure optimum height and spin
England lose to West Indies by 30 runs at T20 World Cup – as it happened
Righto, Simon Burnton’s report is with us":Which means that it from me. Thanks for your company; peace out.We saw on Sunday that anyone can give anyone aggravation, but England ought to win their next two matches. More generally, though, they have to find a way of not getting slapped; I wonder if Rehan Ahmed will come into their thinking, or perhaps they look for more straight pace and give Josh Tongue a whirl.Next for England: Scotland, at 9
England left with no margin for error after defeat by West Indies at T20 World Cup
West Indies are making Group C look plain sailing, England are all at sea. Like, by and large, the ball (unless it was arrowing towards a fielder), England’s pursuit of a target of 197 never got off the ground, and after a largely pedestrian performance veered towards the end into a bilious combination of slapstick and horror they had been dismissed for 166 and, with seven balls remaining, been beaten by 30 runs.Had the knife-edge result against Nepal on Sunday fallen the other way this would already be another crisis in a winter full of them. As it is they will head to Kolkata, where they complete their group fixtures against Scotland and Italy, confident given the nature of their opponents of securing the wins they require to progress to the Super Eights but knowing they can afford no further stumbles.West Indies’ total of 196 was the third biggest of a World Cup still marked by largely moderate scoring, but it did not cause their opponents to be at all frantic
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