‘Stop immigration and Manchester United would have about three players,’ says Liverpool legend John Barnes

Barnes, who won two league titles and two FA cups as well as 79 England caps, told LBC he thinks the problems the UK faces have nothing to do with immigration and people are using it as a ‘scapegoat’.

“Without immigration of the sort we are seeing now, you would still have homeless people… lack of housing. That has got nothing to do with immigration but we are looking for a scapegoat so of course we look to immigrants.”

"Stop immigration and Manchester United would have about three players," John added.

Sir Jim issued a somewhat apology today in which he said he's "sorry some people were offended" by his remarks.

In a statement released on Thursday, Sir Ratcliffe apologised for offending "some people" in the wake of earlier comments, which saw him suggest the UK had been "colonised by immigrants".

The Manchester United co-owner said in the statement: "I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe."

He added: "It is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth."

It comes as the Chancellor branded his earlier comments on immigration "disgusting", after Sir Keir Starmer called on Mr Ratcliffe to apologise.

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Immigration minister Mike Tapp told LBC: “I think they're inappropriate comments. And this is a man that's not even in the country.

"He's living in Monaco after backing Brexit. So it's all a bit odd. My view on this is that we need to restore order and control to the immigration system.

"That's exactly what we're doing. But we're doing that within our British values, which is, of course, having a firm system that's fair also.

"And dialling up the rhetoric and being divisive is not helpful to anybody in this country. It's about being decent and that's what we are as a government.”

Earlier today, ministers took aim at the football owner's tax affairs, with Justice minister Jake Richards telling LBC that the comments were "quite offensive" and raised questions over his tax arrangements.

“There’s also something that I find quite offensive, that this man who moved to Monaco to save four billion pounds in tax is now lecturing us about immigration,” he said.

“One might question whether he is the patriot that we need to comment on this issue.”

The apology follows the INEOS owner hitting out at the number of people on benefits in Britain in the interview released on Wednesday.

He warned that the UK is facing an economic and political crisis, and questioned whether Starmer is the right person to lead the country.

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

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

“I mean, the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it's 70 million. That's 12 million people."

Ratcliffe's numbers are incorrect; Britain’s population was 67 million in 2020, according to the Office of National Statistics.

The last time 58 million people lived in Britain was the year 2000.

On Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman told reporters: “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.”

Pressed on whether it went far enough, the official said: “It’s right that he’s apologised. It’s for Mr Ratcliffe to speak to his apology… It’s not for me.

"The Prime Minister was clear that those comments were offensive and wrong, and that’s why he called on Mr Ratcliffe to apologise.”

He added: “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.”