In an interview with Sky News, British magnate and founder of the INEOS group, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, stated that the UK was 'colonized' by immigrants, warning of the deep political, social, and economic challenges the country faces, including an unprecedented rise in immigration in recent years. The co-owner of Manchester United, who resides in Monaco, argued that immigrants are depleting state resources. 'You can't have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,' he declared. 'I mean, the UK has been colonized. It's costing too much money.' Ratcliffe further added, 'The UK was colonized by immigrants, wasn't it? The population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it's 70 million. That's 12 million people.' The businessman drew a parallel between the management of the country and his experience with the Red Devils, where, according to him, difficult and unpopular decisions were necessary for the good of the club. 'I've seen a lot of this at the football club. If you make tough decisions that we felt we had to make at Manchester United… we felt they were the right things to do. But we became very unpopular for a while,' he explained. 'I am very unpopular among Manchester United fans because we made a lot of changes. But for the better, in my opinion. And I think we are starting to see some evidence at the club that this is beginning to pay off,' Ratcliffe continued. 'But the country has exactly the same problems. If you really want to deal with the big issues of immigration, with people choosing to be on benefits instead of working to live, if you want to tackle that, then you need to do some things that are unpopular and show some courage.' In the same interview, Sir Jim Ratcliffe commented on political leadership, suggesting that Prime Minister Keir Starmer may be 'too nice' for the job. 'I don't know if it was just the machinery that didn't allow Keir to do it or if he might be too nice. Keir is a nice man. I like him, but it's a tough job and I think you need to take some difficult measures to get the UK back on track because at the moment I don't believe the economy is in good shape.' The INEOS boss also revealed that he recently met with Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform Party, describing him as 'an intelligent man' with 'good intentions,' traits he somewhat attributes to Keir Starmer as well. 'I think you need someone who is prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to solve the big issues,' he concluded. Ratcliffe's statements were made on the sidelines of the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, where leaders from several of the largest European economies, such as France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, gathered with industrialists to discuss the future of the continent's economy. The event takes place against a backdrop of closures in the European chemical sector, which, in the opinion of the INEOS founder, faces 'unsustainable conditions.'
Sky News Sir Jim Ratcliffe remains central to this story.
Sky News Sir Jim Ratcliffe remains central to this story.
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