The billionaire businessman made headlines for his outspoken comments on benefits and migration
Billionaire businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s controversial comments on benefit claimants and immigration led to widespread criticism.
In an interview with Sky News, Failsworth-born Ratcliffe – whose net worth is estimated at £17bn – mainly discussed issues facing the petrochemicals industry and the impact of EU carbon taxes and energy prices on his business, INEOS.
The businessman, who owns a minority stake in Manchester United, listed some of the problems he said the UK is facing.
“The UK has lots of problems, we can all see that,” he said. “The economy, crime, education, health, it’s all not in a great place at the moment.
“If you really want to deal with major issues of immigration, people opting to take benefits rather than work for a living, you have to do things which are unpopular and show some courage.
“You can’t have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. The UK is being colonised, it’s costing too much money. Population was 58 mill in 2020, now it’s 70 million.”
His comments have drawn widespread criticism from football fans and politicians alike. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he should apologise, while Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham called his comments ‘inaccurate, insulting and inflammatory’.
Ratcliffe laters apologised for his ‘choice of language’ and said it was important to ‘raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth’.
United said the club takes pride in being ‘inclusive and welcoming’. Ratcliffe’s claims will be examined by the Football Association to see whether they brought the game into disrepute.
The Reds said in a statement: “Manchester United prides itself on being an inclusive and welcoming club. Our diverse group of players, staff and global community of supporters, reflect the history and heritage of Manchester; a city that anyone can call home.
“Since launching All Red All Equal in 2016, we have embedded equality, diversity and inclusion into everything we do. We remain deeply committed to the principles and spirit of that campaign. They are reflected in our policies but also in our culture and are reinforced by our holding of the Premier League’s Advanced Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard.”
We’ve taken a look at the numbers behind some of Ratcliffe’s claims…
‘People opting to take benefits rather than working for a living’
Ratcliffe described ‘people opting to take benefits rather than work for a living’ as a ‘major issue’. Some 24 million people claimed some form of benefit in February 2025, which includes state pension, but 10 million of those were of working age.
The latest available figures from the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) show there were 8,400,344 people in Britain claiming universal credit (UC) in December 2025, up from around 7.5 million in January that year.
Universal Credit is the main means-tested benefit available in the UK and has replaced the mixture of benefits previously in place, such as income support, jobseeker’s allowance, housing benefit and tax credits.
Of the 8.4 million UC claimants in Britain in December 2025, 2.2 million were in work, DWP figures show. Some 4.2 million were classed as not being required to work, which includes people in full-time education, over the state pension age, with a child under the age of one or who are considered to have no prospect of work for health or disability reasons.
The standard monthly allowance for a single person over 25 is £400.14, but claimants can get extra amounts if they have children or a health condition.
Analysis by the Social Justice Centre has found that people on combined benefits could be earning more from these than they would get from working.
Analysis in August found that an economically inactive claimant on UC for ill health with the average housing benefit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) would receive an income of around £25,000.
For comparison, the average wage in the UK after tax is around £28,000. A full-time worker on the National Living Wage makes £22,500 after tax.
‘Huge levels of immigrants coming in’
Ratcliffe said ‘huge levels’ of immigrants are ‘coming into the UK’.
Statistics show net migration to the UK in the year ending June 2025 was 204,000. 898,000 people arrived in that year, down by 31 per cent on the previous year, while 693,300 people left (up by 7pc).
The net migration figure of 204,000 represents a decrease of 69pc on the previous year and a drop compared to the year ending March 2023, when net migration peaked at a historical high of 944,000.
The ONS estimates that non-EU immigration stood at 670,000 in that year (down by 37pc on the previous year). Around 41% came to study at UK universities, 13pc to work, and 13pc as the partner or child of a work migrant (13pc), the Migration Observatory said. A further 14pc were seeking asylum.
‘The UK has been colonised’
Ratcliffe said the UK has been colonised, making reference to the increase in the UK population since 2020.
He erroneously claimed the UK population was 58 million in 2020 and is now 70 million in 2026, saying the population has increased by 12 million in just 6 years.
In fact, the UK population has grown by 12 million since mid-1991, when it stood at an estimated 57.4 – so over 35 years, rather than the past six.
The population has increased by almost 2.8 million since 2020, from 66.7 to 69.5 million people in mid-2025.
At the time of the 2021/22 census, around 16pc of people living in the UK were born abroad, a total of around 10.7 million and a percentage increase from 13.4pc in 2011.
That is about the same rate as other similar high-income countries including France (15pc), the US (15pc), the Netherlands (16pc) and Spain (17pc) according to the Migration Observatory.
The top countries of origin of foreign-born migrants in the UK came from India (9pc), Poland (8pc), Pakistan (6pc), Romania (5pc) and Ireland (4pc). The same 2021 data showed that 58pc of migrants in England and Wales had been living in the UK for at least 10 years.
Ratcliffe has been a Monaco resident since 2020, after being one of the UK’s biggest taxpayers for years, according to the BBC. He owns properties in London, Hampshire, the French Alps and Switzerland, as well as two superyachts, the broadcaster reported.
‘It’s costing too much money’
Of the around eight million people claiming universal credit in June 2025, 83.6pc of these were British and Irish nationals, according to the BBC. But more than a million claimants were born overseas, including around 700,000 EU citizens who came to the UK before Brexit.
The Department for Work and Pensions has said most foreign nationals can claim only after five years residency, but there are exceptions such as for victims of modern slavery.
The Telegraph reported last year that households with at least foreign national claimant received over £7.5 billion in UC in 2023. The government spent around £265 billion on pensions and benefits in 2023-2024.
Around 72pc of the foreign-born population are of working age and 41pc have a university degree, according to the Migration Observatory.
In December 2024 nearly 20pc of UK employees were adult migrants and 19pc of that same group held a job in the health and care sector, compared to 14pc of British adults. Around 21pc of NHS staff in England reported a non-British nationality in June 2025.
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