A critique of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s claim that Britain has been “colonised” by immigrants who are draining resources from the state

In an interview with Sky News, the English billionaire businessman Jim Ratcliffe claimed that Britain has been "colonised" by immigrants who are draining resources from the state.

But what does "colonised" mean?

. Do these "colonisers" control the levers of political power? No, they don't.

. Do many of these "colonisers" come from countries which were exploited by the British Empire when it colonised a good deal of the earth? Yes, they do.

. Do many of these recent "colonisers" come from countries where Britain participated in or supported illegal overt and covert wars overseen by the U.S. Empire? Yes, they do.

. Are many of these "colonisers" used as cheap labour? Yes, they are.

. Do the majority of these "colonisers" pay business and income taxes? Yes, they do.

. Do these "colonisers" staff vital institutions such as the National Health Service as doctors and nurses where they are overrepresented, albeit underrepresented as senior management in its bureaucracy? Yes, they do.

. Meanwhile after "draining" resources from the nations where these "colonisers" originate during the era colonisation and now through the usurious global financial system and corporate primacy in the age of neoliberalism, this odious tax exile and his supporters wallow in their self-satisfied "telling-it-like-it-is" delusion.

© Adeyinka Makinde (2026).

Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England.