Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the owner of the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team, has responded to the backlash which greeted his recent claim that the UK is being “colonised” by immigrants, apologising that his “choice of language has offended some people”.
The petrochemicals billionaire’s comments, made in an interview with Sky News at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, have been the subject of front-page headlines and prompted prime minister Keir Starmer to call on Ratcliffe to apologise.
Monaco resident Ratcliffe’s professional cycling team Ineos Grenadiers, which includes 29 riders from 15 different nations, have yet to publicly acknowledge their owner’s remarks and have not responded to multiple requests for comment from road.cc.
> Why are Manchester United in crisis? Because Sir Jim Ratcliffe is too busy cycling, apparently
Speaking to Sky News in an interview released on Wednesday evening, Ratcliffe, who also co-owns Manchester United and a host of other sporting ventures, 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. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?”
He then, citing incorrect statistics, continued: “The population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million people.”
According to the UK’s Office for National Statistics, the provisional mid-year population estimate for 2025 was 69.4 million. In 2020, the population was 66.7 million, equating to an estimated rise of 2.7 million in the five years since. The last time the UK’s population was around 58 million was in 1995, over three decades ago.
The petrochemicals tycoon then compared running the country to his current role at Manchester United, arguing that politicians need to be “prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted out”.
“If you really want to deal with the major issues of immigration, with people opting to take benefits rather than working for a living, if you want to deal with that, then you’re going to have to do some things which are unpopular, and show some courage,” he said.
Following Ratcliffe’s comments, Labour prime minister Keir Starmer called on the Ineos owner to apologise, branding the comments “offensive and wrong”, and describing Britain as a “proud, tolerant, and diverse country”.
On Thursday, Ratcliffe addressed the backlash to his comments, apologising if they “offended some people”, though notably refused to retract them.
“I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth,” he said in a statement.
“My comments were made while answering questions about UK policy at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, where I was discussing the importance of economic growth, jobs, skills, and manufacturing in the UK.
“My intention was to stress that governments must manage migration alongside investment in skills, industry and jobs so that long-term prosperity is shared by everyone. It is critical that we maintain an open debate on the challenges facing the UK.”
Following that statement, a spokesperson for the prime minister responded: “The prime minister asked for an apology, and one’s been issued, and it’s absolutely right that Jim Ratcliffe has apologised for that language.”
When asked whether the apology went far enough, the spokesperson repeated that it was “right” for Ratcliffe to apologise, before adding: “It’s for Mr Ratcliffe to speak to his apology… It’s not for me.”
The spokesperson continued: “We are of course of the view that there should be a serious debate about immigration, but the prime minister believes in a Britain built for all, and that those comments were inflammatory and divisive.”
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road.cc has contacted the Ineos Grenadiers, under the stewardship of Ratcliffe since 2019, when he took over the then-Team Sky, for comment on Ratcliffe’s remarks on Thursday morning. The team has not responded to our requests.
While the Ineos Grenadiers stay silent, the interview has, however, generated lots of noise within the cycling world, with many high-profile names taking to social media to publicly criticise Ratcliffe and his comments.
“Jim Ratcliffe is a prick. I always thought he was,” former ITV4 cycling commentator and author Ned Boulting wrote on BlueSky.
“He has done nothing to suggest that he is not a prick. I loathe Jim Ratcliffe and as a result I find it very hard to get behind his cycling team. He was a prick before he got into cycling. He’s always been a prick. I hope that clears things up.
“And it’s not a cycling thing, He’s been good (in some ways vital) for cycling, or at least his money has. No issues there. It’s his awful world view which I detest: one in which only riches count, and at all costs. Every obligation to society is as nothing. He, and his billionaire ilk, make me sick.”
12 thoughts on “Jim Ratcliffe “sorry” claim that UK is “being colonised” by immigrants “offended some people” – as Ineos Grenadiers stay silent on owner’s controversial comments”
If you’re going to string people along – getting public money invested in local infrastructure for the sole benefit of your company and raising false hopes of local economic investment, before sodding off with your dog-whistle car brand to another country* abroad – I think we know all we need to know about your noble interest in addressing the challenges faced by the British economy.
(* a country which, according to the tribal comments made by those of a similar disposition, should be doing more to stop the vulnerable people you choose to demonise and marginalise from coming here)
I’m not sure Monaco’s a major stop on migration routes to the UK is it?
Maybe for Russian plutocrats, perhaps?
Migrants who cross the border between France and Italy at Ventimiglia don’t stop by Monaco because they are in hurry to reach the UK.
France has around 160,000 asylum applicants each year, Italy about the same. Germany gets around 230,000. Last year the UK had its record highest number ever of 111,000. The myth beloved of the right that asylum seekers all “flock”, as they would say, to the UK because we’re a soft touch is just that. Unsurprising that you buy into it, of course.
And they are all reaping the consequences. But we are not to make a fuss or question any adverse effects of mass uncontrolled immigration whether legal or illegal. We should be tolerant in the interest of cultural diversity. Look at the fuss created by those who have had the temerity to bring the grooming gangs scandal to the public consciousness. An adverse effect of cultural diversity actively suppressed through censorship.
That’s not a reply to my comment, is it? It’s just an opportunity to shoehorn in a spot of hatred anywhere you can.
This website is broken, can’t directly reply to your “That’s not a reply to my comment, is it?” post. So I’ll dignify your query with a response here.
Fair point, only tangentially perhaps. But as far as number games you would expect lower numbers here, being an island state. Without that slither of water I’m sure many more would “flock” here if they could walk across the border. As far as hatred, well yes I do hate sections of the immigrant community who abuse our hospitality as much as I hate white indigenous scumbags. Not an unreasonable attitude I think and very inclusive! Anyway I think the OPs comment was intended to be flippant and not to mean UK is the only destination, some undesirables will be rejected elsewhere first of course.
Over here in the US we have a mango colored twatwaffle who likes to say and post stuff like that every few minutes or hours depending on how butthurt he’s feeling. He and Ratcliffe might get along quite a well. They could spend the golfing and chatting about which immigrants and what color people they hate the most.
I’m sure they’d have a lot in common.
Considering Britain’s total fertility rate of 1.53 (2.1 being the replacement level), there is a birth deficit of 275,000 per annum ; also considering that the population grew by 2.7 million people between 2020 and 2025, there is a yearly inflow of 815,000 new people. Figures have no political opinions.
“Jim Ratcliffe is a prick. I always thought he was.” When a jerk talks about a prick…
“I mean, the UK has been colonised. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?”
Bit Shuck Follocks, there goes another irony meter, dial spinning so fast it was in the outer atmosphere before I could react. React to a white dude complaining about immigration when the white dudes have invaded everywhere, destroying local culture as they went. Setting up enclaves where locals could be and were abused, white men got whatever they demanded, and the life of a local was less than insignificant.
But it doesn’t matter about the locals, because they weren’t worth as much as the white Europeans were. And, apparently, still are.
Isn’t it great when “foreigners” decide to come along to make comments about the way things should be in their wizened little world view?
Here we have noted Monaco resident and prick Ratcliffe holding forth on the UK’s migration levels. In Ireland we’ve had Malta resident billionaire Denis O’Brien (also a prick) recently lecturing us on how remote working was nonsense and we should all get back to the office (Dublin being ranked 3rd most congested city in the world), and even the other day had some (Irish by his name and I presume non-billionaire) guy living in Brussels lecturing us cyclists in a letter to the Irish Times that we just should get over ourselves and put on hi-viz to play our part (in my fairly regular visits to that fine city I’ve never really noticed a tendency for cyclists to indulge in construction worker cosplay)