The outlet will be an easy drive from Cambridgeshire once complete

A new designer outlet that is easy to reach from Cambridgeshire is set to open in late 2028. The Grantham Designer Outlet Village is expected to attract over 3.9 million visitors a year and become “one of the top 10 best-performing outlets in the UK, by turnover”.

The site will be built across 36 acres and will feature space for both retail and leisure brands. Over 50% of the space has been pre-let or is in active negotiation.

The £140 million project will be led by outlet specialists Rioja Estates and Buckminster Estates and will be found on a new purpose-built junction off the A1. The outlet will be passed by more than 17 million vehicles a day and is described as being in “one of the best outlet locations in the UK”.

The shopping outlet will have connections to both Grantham Town Centre and railway station. Its location on the A1 means it will be easy to reach from Nottingham, Leicester, Lincoln, Peterborough, Derby, and Cambridge. The outlet village is expected to create 1,500 jobs during construction and operation.

Adrian Taylor, Leasing Director at Rioja Estates, said: “Retailers understand that outlets are outperforming traditional retail, so Grantham Designer Outlet Village’s visibility, location, and catchment area make it an exceptionally attractive proposition which explains why we are seeing such strong demand from both UK and international brands.”

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The plans are currently awaiting decision

Plans that will see an agricultural building on the outskirts of Peterborough converted into three residential properties have been submitted to Peterborough City Council.

The current site at Vincents Cross Farm, off Crowland Road, Thorney, consists of a disused farm building set within 1,875 square metres of largely redundant land.

In its application statement, Horrell Farm Company requested permission for the “conversion of an agricultural building to three dwellings including partial demolition, associated access and landscaping.”

If the plans are approved, the building will be converted into one three-bedroom ground-floor flat, and two four-bedroom maisonettes.

A planning statement drawn up on behalf of Horrell Farm Company by Stamford-based architects, Class Q, describes the site’s current agricultural use as “ceasing” and the building as “redundant.”

It goes on to describe the building as “constructed with solid brick” and the “external walls and roof structure remain intact.”

In addition, it is in “good condition overall and there is no substantive evidence to indicate the building could not be readily converted for residential use or that reconstruction works would be significant.”

The area surrounding the building is laid to hardstanding.

The planning statement concludes: “It follows that the building has the character of a substantial construction that is a permanent feature in this part of the countryside.”

Sir Chris Wormald has stood down as the UK’s top civil servant and head of the civil service after just 14 months in the role, the government has announced, as the prime minister seeks to conduct a reset of his ailing Downing Street operation.

Sir Chris’s departure – which the Cabinet Office said was by “mutual agreement” – comes just days after the resignations of Sir Keir’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and communications chief Tim Allan.

The shake up of Sir Keir’s top team is part of an attempt to draw a line under controversies surrounding the appointments of Lord Peter Mandelson and Lord Matthew Doyle despite their association with sex offenders.

But Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the move has been done to “save his own skin”, accusing the prime minister of having thrown the outgoing Cabinet secretary “under the bus”.

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It comes after Sir Keir survived the toughest day of his premiership so far this week, with figures across the political spectrum questioning his judgement and a growing number of Labour MPs calling for him to go.

The prime minister said he was “grateful” for Sir Chris’s “long and distinguished career of public service” and his “support” as Cabinet secretary.

Commenting on his departure – which came after days of speculation over his future – Sir Keir added: “I have agreed with him that he will step down as Cabinet secretary today. I wish him the very best for the future.”

Meanwhile, Sir Chris said it had been “an honour and a privilege to serve as a civil servant for the past 35 years, and a particular distinction to lead the service as Cabinet secretary”.

“I want to place on record my sincere thanks to the extraordinary civil servants, public servants, ministers, and advisers I have worked with.

“Our country is fortunate to have such dedicated individuals devoted to public service, and I wish them every success for the future”, he said.

The top civil servant had been due to lead the probe led into Lord Peter Mandelson’s contact with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein while he was a government minister.

The prime minister will appoint a new Cabinet secretary “shortly”, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday.

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Home Office permanent secretary Dame Antonia Romeo, who is widely tipped to be in line for Sir Chris’s former job, Catherine Little and James Bowler will share the responsibilities of Cabinet secretary for an interim period.

Dame Antonia was reportedly investigated when she was Britain’s consul general in New York in 2017 over her expenses and claims of bullying, but was later cleared by the Cabinet Office.

Rumours that the Labour leader intends to replace Sir Chris with Dame Antonia earlier this week triggered a highly unusual warning by a former top mandarin against “doing the due diligence too late” amid wider concerns about government vetting.

Dame Antonia’s former boss Lord Simon McDonald, ex-permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, said there should be a “full process” to appoint a new Cabinet secretary and that “needs to start from scratch”.

Lord McDonald told Channel 4 News on Wednesday evening: “This is the most important job in the civil service. It can’t be chosen on the fly.”

He added: “If the prime minister wants a new Cabinet secretary, he needs to start from scratch.

“Due diligence is vitally important. The prime minister has recent bitter experience of doing the due diligence too late.

“It would be an unnecessary tragedy to repeat that mistake.”

The government has promised to improve its vetting processes after the prime minister claimed Lord Mandelson lied about the depth of his association to Epstein during his vetting for the UK’s top diplomatic posting abroad.

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Meanwhile, questions have been raised over the screening process for Matthew Doyle, who was recently handed a peerage despite him having previously campaigned for paedophile councillor Sean Morton in 2017 after he had been charged with having indecent images of children.

Ahead of Sir Chris’s resignation, Mrs Badenoch also said Sir Keir should delay the change in leadership at the Cabinet Office until the disclosure of the Mandelson files is complete.

“It is hard to escape the conclusion that the Cabinet secretary is simply the latest person to be thrown under a bus by this prime minister”, the Tory leader said in a letter to the Civil Service Commission.

“It is all the more concerning to be changing Cabinet secretary in the midst of the ongoing scandal over the appointment of Lord Mandelson and his conduct in office.”

Andrew James Peacock, 46, made 14 telephone calls to the emergency services in May last year and seven in June, said Mel Ibbotson, prosecuting at York Magistrates’ Court.

But on no occasion was he reporting a genuine emergency, and therefore he was breaking a court order banning him from contacting the emergency services unless in a genuine emergency.

Ms Ibbotson said Peacock was banned from a Lidl supermarket in Richmond, but was seen by staff inside it “flying down an aisle in a mobility scooter” on May 24 last year.

He was abusive to a staff member when he was asked to leave.   

Peacock, 46, of Alexandra Way, Richmond, was before the court for sentence for six breaches of a criminal behaviour order (CBO) and using threatening behaviour in a Lidl supermarket. He pleaded guilty to all offences after initially denying some. He has previous convictions for breaching the CBO.

At the time of all the offences, he was subject to a 20-week prison sentence suspended for two years for other offences including persistent use of public communication for nuisance calls and breaching the CBO.

Magistrates, after consulting national sentencing guidelines, decided that he should receive a sentence greater than their maximum sentence of 12 months and committed him to York Crown Court for sentence. They remanded him in custody.

Ms Ibbotson said during the course of the 999 calls, which Peacock made to the police and to the ambulance service, he sounded drunk, said he was going to a pub to start a fire, said he was going to cause violence and became abusive.

On November 3, police were called to a surgery in Catterick Garrison where Peacock was threatening to stab himself unless he was seen by a doctor. He was aggressive and didn’t have a medical need to be there. He was drunk and thereby breached the CBO which had a condition that he not be drunk in public.

On Christmas Eve, he again breached the order, this time by his conduct in Darlington town centre, and twice he breached the order by having a container of alcohol open in public.

Raheem Sterling has completed a move to Dutch club Feyenoord, signing a deal that will keep him at the Eredivisie side until the end of the current season.

The 31-year-old winger joins as a free agent, marking a new chapter after a period of uncertainty at Chelsea.

Sterling’s departure from Stamford Bridge came by mutual agreement at the end of January, following an extended period out of favour, with his last competitive appearance for the Blues in May 2024.

He spent the previous season on loan with Arsenal and had been training alone at Chelsea during the current campaign, concluding a three-and-a-half year tenure since his 2022 transfer from Manchester City.

He now links up with Feyenoord, currently second in the Eredivisie, under the management of former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin Van Persie.

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Speaking on the club’s website, Sterling expressed his enthusiasm: “As a free agent, I’ve had, for the first time in a long time, the opportunity to control the next step in my career.

“I wanted to take my time to speak with clubs and their head coaches to better understand the role they envisioned for me and ensure that I can add real value in this next chapter.

“Having spoken in great detail with CEO Dennis te Kloese and Robin, I’m confident that Feyenoord is a place I can be happy and establish myself as a valued member of the team.

“Playing abroad is a whole new challenge for me – and one I’m ready to embrace. Honestly, I’m just excited to get started. To Feyenoord and particularly Robin and Dennis, thank you for your patience and professionalism as I navigated this process.”

Sterling boasts an impressive career, having earned 82 England caps, with his most recent international appearance at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, alongside winning four Premier League titles.

Feyenoord manager Robin Van Persie welcomed the acquisition, stating: “Naturally it’s a fantastic feat that we’ve managed to convince a player of Raheem’s calibre to sign with us.

“His football resume speaks for itself: he’s a player whose qualities can change the outcome of a game without a doubt and I am convinced he will turn out to be a valuable addition to the team as we work towards achieving our goals in the second half of this season.”

Children can be exposed to ‘execution videos and escort services’ via social media ‘with little effort’, an investigation has found.

Tech providers have increasingly beefed up child safety checks, including age-verification and restricted accounts for teens.

But Malwarebytes found that by using tricks that a child could use, some checks could be bypassed, such as looking at a website without an account or faking their date of birth.

‘It was very easy,’Pieter Arntz, a senior researcher at the cybersecurity firm, tells Metro. ‘A little curiosity and the search bar for the most part found toxic content.’

Gaming platform Roblox allows adults to chat with others after verifying their ages, but this is not needed for communities, akin to chat rooms.

Metro made an account where we said we were five years old, the minimum age a Roblox user is required to be.

Metro was able to search for and join the communities flagged by Malwarebytes as using names and terms linked to fraud.

However, our underage account could not access a community’s ‘wall’, where users can post.

One group identified by cybercrime experts included Fullz Ent., a group with more than 740 members that says it offers ‘High quality Clothing’.

‘Fullz’ is slang used in cyber crook circles for stolen personal information, according to Arntz. ‘New clothes’ is used by criminals to refer to stolen payment card data.

Such terms ‘wouldn’t probably be flagged as criminal by most parents’, Arntz adds.

Fullz Ent. includes a disclaimer in its about section that says: ‘We Are Not Affiliated With Any Gangs.’

Malwarebytes’ investigation was carried out in December – the following month, Roblox made facial age checks mandatory to chat to limit communication between adults and children younger than 16. 

How underage users are accessing YouTube without accounts

Researchers found that underage users can access inappropriate content on YouTube that is available to those without an account.

YouTube Kids is a version of the video-sharing service for youngsters by employing rigorous video filters and parental controls.

No account is needed for basic viewing and browsing of YouTube and Malwarebytes found content can be viewed by a minor if they make a ‘Guest’ account via Google, which owns YouTube.

By doing so, Metro was able to view a video shared by a French news outlet of a Tunisian member of ISIS being executed, as well as view content shared by ‘how to’ fraud accounts.

Malwarebytes said that adult content on age-gated apps Twitch and TikTok was ‘easy to fake’.

It said: ‘While most platforms require users to be 13+, a self-declaration is often enough. All that remains is for the child to register an email address with a service that doesn’t require age verification.’

Metro was also able to access an account offering ‘call-girl services’ in India on the streaming site Twitch after self-reporting our age as over-18.

The account includes a link to a website where users can browse ads for escorts and WhatsApp them, the site claims.

When Metro messaged one of the accounts, a man asked in Hindi: ‘How much time do you need?’

TikTok requires new users to input their birthday – if under-18, they have default privacy settings, limited features and enhanced parental controls.

If a user says they are an adult, such restrictions are not in effect. This allowed Malwarebytes to find content about ‘providing credit card fraud and identity theft tutorials’, which Metro verified.

Malwarebytes said that when using a teen-restricted account on Instagram, researchers were able to find profiles promoting financial fraud.

Metro similarly made an account where we listed our date of birth as 15 and were able to find the accounts by using the app’s search function.

Teen Instagram accounts, for users aged between 13 and 17, were introduced on Instagram in 2024.

Parental controls are on by default, meaning accounts are automatically private and have the strictest content filters in place. They will be limited to messaging only those they are already connected with.

Meta, which owns Instagram, extended this to Facebook users the following year.

‘Today’s young people are simply more tech-savvy’

Arntz says that Malwarebytes’ findings don’t show how any one platform is failing. Rather, today’s young people are simply more tech-savvy than the adults designing these child safety policies.

Some youngsters are even using AI-generated documents to bypass ID scans, Arntz adds.

‘The problem isn’t children being especially deceptive; it’s that age gates rely on self‑reported trust in an environment where anonymity is effortless,’ he says.

‘Without robust digital identity verification or parental supervision, these measures serve more as legal cover for companies than real protection for young users.’

Roblox told Metro that the firm is moving beyond self-reported age checks, having been the first gaming company to embrace age-checks.

A spokesperson said: ‘We also restrict access to certain content based on a player’s verified age, have a wide range of additional safety features like default chat filters, and have extremely strict policies to guard against users discussing or engaging in any form of illegal activity, with our teams taking swift action against users and communities found to be breaking the rules.

‘While no system is perfect, our commitment to safety never ends, and we continue to strengthen protections to help keep users safe.’

Twitch said the live-streaming platform is ‘continuing to increase’ its investment into youth safety tools, including content filters.

A spokesperson added: ‘Using automated tools and behavioural signals, we monitor Twitch 24/7/365 for content and channels that may violate our youth safety policy.’

Machine-learning technology and other detection models are used to estimate whether a user is under the age of 13.

Google, TikTok and Meta have been approached for comment.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services one year ago, he has defended his upending of federal health policy by saying the changes will restore trust in America’s public health agencies.

But as the longtime leader of the anti-vaccine movement scales back immunization guidance and dismisses scientists and advisers, he’s clashed with top medical groups who say he’s not following the science.

The confrontation is deepening confusion among the public that had already surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveys show trust in the agencies Kennedy leads is falling, rather than rising, as the country’s health landscape undergoes dramatic change.

Kennedy says he’s aiming to boost transparency to empower Americans to make their own health choices. Doctors counter that the false and unverified information he’s promoting is causing major, perhaps irreversible, damage — and that if enough people forgo vaccination, it will cause a surge of illness and death.

There was a time when people trusted health agencies regardless of party and the government reported “the best of what science knows at this point,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Now, you cannot confidently go to federal websites and know that,” she said.

HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon argued that trust had suffered during the Biden administration. “Kennedy’s mandate is to restore transparency, scientific rigor, and accountability,” he said.

Trust slid during the COVID pandemic

Historically, federal scientific and public health agencies enjoyed strong ratings in public opinion polls. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for decades scored above many other government agencies in Gallup surveys that asked whether they were doing a “good” or “excellent” job.

Two decades ago, more than 60% of Americans gave the CDC high marks, according to Gallup. But that number fell dramatically at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, amid agency mistakes and guidance that some people didn’t like.

In 2020, the percentage of Americans who believed the CDC was doing at least a “good” job fell to 40% and then leveled off for the next few years.

Alix Ellis, a hairstylist and mom in Madison, Georgia, used to fully trust the CDC and other health agencies but lost that confidence during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said some of the guidance didn’t make sense. At her salon, for example, stylists could work directly on someone’s hair, but others in the room had to be several feet away.

“I’m not saying that we were lied to, but that is when I was like, OK, ‘Why are we doing this?’” the 35-year-old said.

Kennedy helped create the trust problem, doctor says

Part of Kennedy’s pitch as health secretary has been restoring Americans’ trust in public health.

“We’re going to tell them what we know, we’re going to tell them what we don’t know, and we’re going to tell them what we’re researching and how we’re doing it,” Kennedy told senators last September, while explaining how he intended to make the CDC’s information reliable. “It’s the only way to restore trust in the agency — by making it trustworthy.”

Before entering politics, Kennedy was one of the loudest voices spreading false information about immunizations. Now, he’s trying to fix a trust problem he helped create, said Dr. Rob Davidson, a Michigan emergency physician.

“You fed those people false information to create the distrust, and now you’re sweeping into power and you’re going to cure the distrust by promoting the same disinformation,” said Davidson, who runs a doctor group called the Committee to Protect Health Care. “It’s upside-down.”

Kennedy has wielded the power of his office to take multiple steps that diverge from medical consensus.

Last May, he announced COVID-19 vaccines were no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women, a move doctors called concerning and confusing.

In November, he directed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism, without supplying new evidence. And earlier this year, the CDC under his leadership reduced the number of vaccines recommended for every child, a decision medical groups said would undermine protections against a half-dozen diseases.

Kennedy also has overhauled his department through canceled grants and mass layoffs. Last summer, Kennedy fired his new CDC chief after less than a month over disagreements about vaccine policy.

Confusion emerges as trust erodes

Some have applauded the moves. But surveys suggest many Americans have had the opposite reaction.

“I have much less trust,” said Mark Rasmussen, a 67-year-old retiree walking into a mall in Danbury, Connecticut, one recent morning.

Shocked by Kennedy’s dismantling of public health norms, professional medical groups have urged Americans not to follow new vaccine recommendations they say were adopted without public input or compelling evidence.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, along with more than 200 public health and advocacy groups, urged Congress to investigate how and why Kennedy changed the vaccine schedule. The American Medical Association, working with the University of Minnesota’s Vaccine Integrity Project, this week announced a new evidence-based process for reviewing the safety of respiratory virus vaccines — something they say is needed since the government stopped doing that kind of systematic review.

Many Democratic-led states also have rebuffed Kennedy’s policies, even creating their own alliances to counter his vaccine guidance.

“We see burgeoning confusion about which sources to trust and about which sources are real. That makes decision-making on an individual level much harder,” said Dr. Megan Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health.

She said she worried the confusion was contributing to the recent rise in diseases like whooping cough and measles, which were once largely eliminated in the U.S.

Surveys indicate growing public wavering over support for the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Although a large majority of people support giving it to children, the proportion declined significantly in just over nine months, according to Annenberg research. An August 2025 survey finds that 82% would be “very” or “somewhat” likely to recommend that an eligible child in their household get MMR vaccine, compared with 90% in November 2024.

Surveys show trust is declining again

New findings from the health care research nonprofit KFF in January show that 47% of Americans trust the CDC “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to provide reliable vaccine information, down about 10 percentage points since the beginning of Trump’s second term.

Trust among Democrats dropped 9 percentage points since September, to 55%, the survey found. Trust among Republicans and independents hasn’t changed since September, but it has declined somewhat among both groups since the beginning of Trump’s term.

Even among MAHA supporters, the poll shows, fewer than half say they trust agencies like the CDC and FDA “a lot” or “some” to make recommendations about childhood vaccine schedules.

Gallup surveys also show a drop in Americans who believe the CDC is doing a “good job,” from 40% in 2024 to 31% last year.

Those results came alongside a decline of trust across the government — not just agencies under Kennedy’s oversight. Yet concerns about Kennedy’s trustworthiness also have emerged in the past year. Documents recently obtained by The Associated Press and The Guardian, for example, undermine his statements that a 2019 trip to Samoa ahead of a measles outbreak had “nothing to do with vaccines.” The documents have prompted senators to assert that Kennedy lied to them over the visit.

HHS officials say they are promoting independent decision-making by families while working to reduce preventable diseases. They say reducing routine vaccine recommendations was meant to ensure parents vaccinate children against the riskiest diseases.

HHS did not make Kennedy available for an interview, despite repeated requests. But as he has pledged to restore trust, he’s also urged people to come to their own conclusions.

“This idea that you should trust the experts,” Kennedy said recently on The Katie Miller Podcast, “a good mother doesn’t do that.”

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AP writer Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Suzanna Shaw died at 60 at her home address on Allington Court, Brocksby Chase, Halliwell last Friday (February 6).

Police said there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death and have launched a next of kin appeal.

GMP shared the appeal to help trace the relatives of people who have died before establishing a cause of death.

In UK law, there is no legal definition of “next of kin”, but it is usually understood to be the closest relative, whether a partner, parent, child or sibling.

Anyone who has information is asked to contact the Police Coroner’s Office on 0161 856 4687.

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has apologised that his claim Britain has been “colonised” by migrants “offended some people in the UK and Europe”.

Sir Jim, one of Britain’s richest men, has been under pressure from a string of high-profile politicians, including Sir Keir Starmer, to apologise for the claim.

While the Ineos founder said he was sorry that his remarks “caused concern”, Sir Jim insisted that it was important to “raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth”.

Following his statement, the club issued one of its own, insisting it was an “inclusive and welcoming club”.

It added: 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.”

In his statement released on Thursday, the billionaire said: “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.

“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.”

He added: “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.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said it was “right” that Sir Jim apologised for his “offensive and wrong” comments.

Sir Keir was among the first major political figures to have called on the businessman to apologise.

Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester said they “go against everything for which Manchester has traditionally stood”.

Mr Burnham, who has backed plans driven by Sir Jim to regenerate Old Trafford and build a new stadium for Manchester United, also said “footballers who have arrived from all over the world to play in Greater Manchester have enhanced the life of our city region”.

He then appeared to hit out at United’s ownership, adding: “If any criticism is needed, it should be directed towards those who have offered little contribution to our life here and have instead spent years siphoning wealth out of one of our proudest institutions.”

Kick It Out – the anti-discrimination football campaign group – told the Press Association Sir Jim’s comments were “disgraceful and deeply divisive” and also criticised his claim that the UK population has swelled by 12 million since 2020, which has proved to be inaccurate.

In the interview with Sky News on Wednesday, Sir Jim – who founded chemical giant Ineos in 1998 – said: “You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in.

“I mean, the UK is being colonised. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants.”

Sir Jim bought a minority share in Manchester United in late 2023 and his Ineos group has since taken control of football operations.

The billionaire has presided over a variety of contentious changes since becoming part of the ownership, with ticket pricing and availability causing particular anger among United fans.

A protest against the club’s owners, including for the first time towards Sir Jim as well as the Glazers, took place before Manchester United’s recent home game against Fulham.

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.