Cracking the code on immigration
Last week, Jim Ratcliffe – billionaire owner of Manchester United – who himself emigrated to Monaco in 2020 for economic reasons, criticised others who were doing the same thing. His use of the word ‘colonising’ was incredibly triggering to me and to many others. It even spurned me to write a scathing opinion piece in the Bylines Scotland.
Diversity is also key to the success of Manchester United
It also got me thinking about something else. As the owner of Manchester United which currently includes 19 foreign players out of 26 – 73.1% ‘immigrants’, according to Transfermarkt – all of whom are welcomed to UK soil instead of complained about, perhaps he has actually cracked the code on immigration? The irony!
Changing the language
The first thing one could learn from Manchester United, and other successful immigration stories, is changing the vocabulary. Instead of calling the foreign players ‘immigrants’, they are integrated as part of the team, wearing the same jersey as the locals, playing on the same field and coached by the same coach.
When we say migrants are housed in ‘hotels’, it conjures up images of sunshine, free sweet-smelling amenities and room service. The reality, of course, is rather less brochure-friendly: converted buildings, cramped rooms, often in remote locations where isolation makes access, integration and connection difficult.
Perhaps Shabana Mahmoud and other government officials could consider retiring the word ‘hotel’ and stop encouraging the use of Mr. Farage’s vocabulary for migrants? ‘Temporary asylum housing’ might be less misleading. Even ‘transition state boarding’ would be closer to the mark.
Preparing the soil
Meanwhile, when Mr. Ratcliffe welcomes immigrants he approves of, the soil is carefully prepared. New players aren’t dropped into the deep end and expected to do the work of integration alone. Their families are supported, housing is arranged, schools are found. Every effort is made to soften the upheaval of relocation.
What if, like Mr. Ratcliffe, instead of scattering migrants onto depleted, sun-scorched, untilled ground – and then blaming them when nothing grows – we actually did the unglamorous work of preparing the soil? Tilling it. Enriching it. Giving new arrivals, like any seeds, half a chance to take root.
That would mean resisting the well-worn austerity reflex that has failed consistently and repeatedly, and choosing instead to invest in infrastructure that benefits everyone, migrant or not? Affordable housing, decent roads, properly funded schools, a health service that functions. Radical, I know.
Yes, the government pleads lack of resources. And yet a remarkable number of billionaires still reside in the UK. One imagines some of them might experiment with an unfashionable concept – paying their fair share of taxes in full, on time – considering them an investment in public services – instead of finding refuge in Mediterranean locations.
Creating safe, third spaces
Finally, Mr. Ratcliffe offers his recruits a shared space in which to integrate. Under expert guidance, individual talents are identified, refined and coordinated. The result is a strong team – not because every player is a superstar – but because each one learns how to connect and function within the whole. Revolutionary, indeed.
A few months ago, Helen Wildig and I proposed something similar: the creation of third spaces – a kind of year-round ‘freshers’ fair’ where locals and newcomers alike can find their people, promoting shared values instead of market worth. Cultural institutions could promote what they already offer and develop more.
The magic of mutuality
The principle is simple: mutuality. Giving and receiving, in equal measure, in spaces that are safe and genuinely welcoming. Loneliness, after all, is one of our most widespread social ailments – and it doesn’t affect only those holding certain passports.
Belonging grows through connection. When welcome is framed as charity, we flatten it into hierarchy and lose the reciprocity that makes it powerful.
When we strengthen the threads between us, the social fabric holds. Build a community-driven nationwide network of hubs where people meet as equals, and integration stops being a slogan and starts being lived reality.
Prepare the soil and things grow. Mr. Ratcliffe has done precisely that with a world-class team like Manchester United. If we applied the same logic beyond the playing field, we might discover we were never nearly as foreign to one another as some would have us believe.
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