The Manchester United co-owner, one of Britain's richest men but a resident of tax-free Monaco, told Sky News that Britain had been "colonised" by immigrants who are draining resources from the state.

"You can't have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in," he said.

"I mean, the UK has been colonised. It's costing too much money.

"The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn't it?"

In a post on X responding to the interview, Sir Keir Starmer said: "Offensive and wrong. Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise."

Sir Jim, the founder of the INEOS chemicals group, also claimed to Sky's economics and data editor Ed Conway immigration had pushed the country's population from 58 million in 2020 to 70 million in 2026.

The Office for National Statistics estimates the population of the UK was 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024. It was estimated at 58.9 million in 2000.

Sir Jim said the government needed a leader "prepared to be unpopular for a period" to address Britain's issues, suggesting Sir Keir, while "a nice man", might not be the right man for the top job.

He said he had met recently with Nigel Farage, describing him as "intelligent" with "good intentions".

The Reform UK leader later backed his remarks about immigration, telling 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."

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Speaking before Sir Keir's intervention, Sports Secretary Lisa Nandy told Matt Barbet on Sky's Politics Hub that immigration had been too high, especially under Boris Johnson's government.

But she said the government was investing in more opportunities for British youngsters, and declared: "My dad comes from an immigrant background. I want your viewers to know that I am really proud that Britain is a diverse and tolerant country that is strengthened by waves of immigration."

'Disgraceful and divisive'

The prime minister's criticism has been widely echoed by football and anti-racism groups.

The Manchester United Muslim Supporters' Club accused Sir Jim of risking "legitimising prejudice and deepening division", saying it was "deeply concerned" by his rhetoric.

"The term 'colonised' is not neutral. It echoes language frequently used in far-right narratives that frame migrants as invaders and demographic threats," said a statement.

"Such rhetoric has real-world consequences," it added, and pointed out United has "players, staff and supporters from every background, faith, and ethnicity".

Football's anti-discrimination body Kick It Out labelled Sir Jim's comments "disgraceful and deeply divisive at a time when football does so much to bring communities together".

Its damning statement added: "This type of language and leadership has no place in English football, and we believe most fans will feel the same."

Charity Show Racism the Red Card also said it was "deeply concerned" by the remarks, and said public figures should use their platform to "challenge racism, not inadvertently amplify narratives that undermine community harmony".

It comes hours after he oversaw a 0-0 draw with bottom side Wolves. He leaves the club sitting 17th in the table, just three points above the relegation zone with 12 games remaining.

"Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that Sean Dyche has been relieved of his duties as head coach," a statement said.

"We would like to thank Sean and his staff for their efforts during their time at the club and we wish them the best of luck for the future. We will be making no further comment at this time."

A spate of sackings - and history to be made

It's the third time Forest have sacked their manager this season, following Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou - the latter lasting just 39 days.

It's also the second Premier League managerial sacking of the week, after Spurs dismissed Thomas Frank, and the eighth managerial departure in the English top-flight so far this season.

Dyche's dismissal means Forest look set to become the first Premier League club to have four permanent managers in a single campaign.

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The 54-year-old took charge in October with Forest third from bottom in the table after a run of one win in eight games during a difficult opening to the season.

Following a promising start to his tenure at the City Ground, the former Burnley and Everton boss found victories hard to come by in recent weeks, with Forest winning just two of their last 10 league fixtures.

In that time, the club also exited the FA Cup at the hands of Championship side Wrexham.

Dyche, who as a player was part of Forest's youth set-up, was in charge for 114 days, during which time he guided the team to the Europa League play-offs, where they will face Turkish side Fenerbahce in the first of a two-legged tie next week.

After several fellow cabinet ministers suggested the UK would benefit from rejoining the customs union, Ms Reeves she and Sir Keir Starmer want to "try and remove barriers for businesses".

While keen to trumpet trade deals the UK has struck with the likes of India and the US, the chancellor declared: "The biggest prize is clearly with the EU, and we have made progress there."

"I'm all up for doing deals with India and the US and Korea, but none of them are going to be as big as what we can get through better trade relations with Europe", Ms Reeves said.

"We trade almost as much with the EU as the whole of the rest of the world combined," she added. "I think further integration will require further alignment.

"But I'm up for that. My government, Keir's government, is up for that."

Leave Brexit alone, says top Tory

Ms Reeves, who was speaking at the London School of Economics on Wednesday, has been accused of seeking to "row back on Brexit" with her ambitions.

Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride claimed it was Labour's "poor choices", rather than the departure from the EU the Conservatives negotiated, that had contributed to economic hardship.

The prime minister and chancellor have repeatedly said the government will not rejoin the customs union or single market, but Ms Reeves said: "We were very clear in opposition that we wanted to have better trade relations and a greater degree of trust between the UK and the European Union."

She cited the UK returning to the Erasmus student exchange programme as an example of progress being made, and noted the government is working on an "ambitious Youth Mobility Scheme".

Reeves: 'We can win the argument'

"We want to make Europe as strong as possible," the chancellor said. "That means not pulling up the drawbridge.

"And I know we did that when we voted to leave - not me, the country made that decision… I am confident this is a political argument as well that we can win."

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Last December, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said while it was not "currently" policy, it could be beneficial for the UK to consider re-entering a customs union with the EU.

He told The News Agents podcast: "It's self-evident that leaving the European Union badly damaged our economy, took us out of an important marketplace and created serious friction, that untruths were being peddled by those that thought exiting the EU would be a good thing."

Health Secretary Wes Streeting also told The Observer that month that "the best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU".

Labour's 2024 general election manifesto set out three so-called "red lines" regarding the EU. It stated: "There will be no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement."

The review followed the high-profile case of baby Victoria, who died at the hands of her mother Constance Marten and her father Mark Gordon.

Marten, 38, and her convicted rapist partner Gordon, 51, went on the run with their daughter to get away from social services after their four other children were taken into care.

Victoria's body was later found inside a shopping bag.

Marten and Gordon have been jailed for a total of 28 years after they were convicted of killing their baby.

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The review, published by the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, said the baby girl's birth "was the last within her family of a rapid series of pregnancies, births, and removals into care that by the time she was conceived had become a repeating pattern with devastating consequences".

It said that, given the family history, professionals around them "needed to contemplate the prospect of Victoria being conceived and born well in advance, to have a better chance of engaging more productively with her parents".

In 1989, British national Gordon was jailed in the US for raping a woman in Florida when he was 14.

The review said when he was deported back to the UK, he was not required to share details about new partners or pregnancy.

At least three of the pregnancies during his relationship with Marten were concealed or disclosed late, which the review said limited "safeguarding opportunities".

'I was given ultimatums'

Asked by the review how contact with child safeguarding agencies made her feel, Marten said: "I was given ultimatums, rather than true assistance.

"It felt like they were using the powers of the state coercively rather than constructively.

"It felt, in a way, that there was a flow chart which would ultimately result in the removal of my children, step by step.

"My mistrust of social services is not an innate feature of my personality, it developed due to my dealings with them."

'Hard to hear'

The report called for better support for parents of children who are taken into care to prevent harm to any babies they might have in the future.

Panel chairman Sir David Holmes said while it might be "hard to hear and harder still to action", a lesson from the case is that a focus must be kept on support for parents in cases of child removal "however hard to understand they may be".

The review noted the couple's "persistent reluctance to engage" with authorities, having moved five times during their five pregnancies between 2017 and 2023, "with each move coinciding with escalating safeguarding concerns".

The 82-year-old former magistrate had just been diagnosed with an aggressive, inoperable brain tumour.

She wanted to add her voice to support for the assisted dying bill making its way through parliament, even though she knew it would come too late for her.

She feared the loss of dignity and identity as she deteriorated.

"I feel that it should be me who says, 'Well, I think I'll get off this bus now. I've reached where I want to go to, and I'm quite happy, I've had a good life'."

Forty-nine days after we spoke, Ed died.

Her son Stephen was with her in those final days. It was, he said, exactly the sort of harrowing and difficult death his mother dreaded.

"She wouldn't have chosen that end. She knew exactly what was going to happen to her," he told Sky News.

"Mum lived her life with dignity. She lived her life in a way that she very much wanted to control everything and the control was taken away from her, the dignity was removed.

"It actually took away her humanity. She didn't have any other choices open to her."

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Stephen spoke to Sky News as the fate of the assisted dying bill hangs in the balance.

Supporters say peers in the House of Lords are attempting to block its progress with a series of amendments. Those opponents say scrutiny is necessary to protect the vulnerable.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would permit a person who is terminally ill and with less than six months to live to legally end their life.

"Having to go through this experience with a loved one who's at the end of life, you want the best for them, the best outcome and the best ending, the most human ending for them. I think everybody would agree that that would be the case," Stephen said.

As a citizen of New Zealand, which has had an assisted dying law since 2021, Stephen has an elderly friend who chose to end their life, free on the country's health service, at the time of his mother's death.

His mum's own wish had been for her life to end in her favourite armchair, with a cup of tea by her side, and a view of her beloved North Yorkshire countryside.

'I don't think she had justice'

"I feel disappointed for her, that as a person who had fought for justice all her life, I felt the system let her down a little bit at the end," he said.

"I don't think she had the justice that she deserved."

"Mum was so frustrated with the system," her son added.

"I don't think mum was a person who was angry much. She would see things for how they were and try and change them. 'How can I make this better, if not for me, then for other people?'

"That's how mum lived her life."