He shoots, he scores. Gary Lineker has made the most of his new-found freedoms since leaving the BBC, and the former Match of the Day host didn’t pull any punches when he got onto the subject of Manchester United owner Jim Ratcliffe earlier on Friday.
ALSO READ: Keir Starmer demands apology from Jim Ratcliffe for immigration comments
What Jim Ratcliffe said about immigrants in the UK…
Now presenting The Rest is Football podcast, the former England international was responding to controversial comments made by the billionaire this week. In an interview with Sky News, Ratcliffe claimed that the UK had been ‘colonised by immigrants’, using unsubstantiated stats to support his claim.
“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonised. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?” | Jim Ratcliffe
Jim Ratcliffe finds support from the most predictable place imaginable
The highly-charged statement sparked a furious debate across the country. PM Keir Starmer condemned the comments, and demanded an apology from Mr. Ratcliffe – which was formally issued on Thursday. Nigel Farage, however, has taken a different view. Of course he has…
He has openly backed Ratcliffe by saying that his remarks ‘were correct’, and defended Jim’s decision to move to Monaco in 2020 to avoid paying tax in the UK. That might be something to celebrate for Farage and friends – but Gary Lineker is having none of it.
Gary Lineker blasts ‘hypocrite’ Man United owner
He hit out at the 73-year-old, referring to him as ‘an economic migrant’. Lineker further goaded Ratcliffe by saying that he should only be able to moan about British society ‘if he is here paying his taxes’. As far as takedowns go, this one is bang on-target…
“Owners of football clubs are often billionaires – people who seek to divide. It’s the hypocrisy, really. [Ratcliffe] is an migrant himself, and economic migrant. He lives in Monaco. You can have a gripe all you like, but at least be here paying tax and contributing to society.”
“A lot of immigrants do contribute enormously. The facts on revenue and tax show that. But Jim is doing everything he can to avoid paying tax. Manchester United have a lot of players from overseas – a lot fans are very disappointed. I find it concerning.” | Gary Lineker
You can watch the full clip here: