A purely economic migrant, Jim Ratcliffe – billionaire owner of Manchester United – emigrated to Monaco in 2020 to avoid paying taxes. No one enjoys paying taxes, of course, but they are, inconveniently, the price we pay for functioning public services. – an investment in societal well-being, if you will.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most hypocrite of us all?
Yet this same ‘patriot’ commented on SkyNews on Wednesday: “…. you can’t have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in”. “The UK is being colonised by immigrants, really, isn’t it?”, he asked.
Which is quite something, coming from an immigrant who has opted out of contributing to the very system he now critiques. Most of the people he’s disparaging actually pay into the society that funds the services they use.
The hypocrisy – or perhaps just a spectacular lack of self-awareness – is almost impressive.
Facts, ‘schmacts…’
Almost as impressive as Mr. Ratcliffe’s talent for overlooking his own migrant status is his flair for bending facts to fit the moment. Why trouble yourself with accurate immigration statistics when invention is so much more convenient? It works so often in business, doesn’t it?
Manchester United’s squad currently includes 19 foreign players out of 26 – that’s 73.1% ‘immigrants’, according to Transfermarkt. But apparently those immigrants don’t count. They’re assets. Investments. Tradable commodities. Certainly not immigrants!
Not like the ones fleeing war or climate disaster, who end up cleaning offices, caring for the sick, maintaining streets – doing the unglamorous work that keeps a country functioning. Oh, and most of whom do pay their taxes. But maybe I said that already?
If the immigrant players on his team had a taste for irony, they might decline to play on principle. And perhaps the fans would back them? Some values are more important to defend than football victories. One can always hope.
What’s sauce for the goose is caviar for the gander
Proud recipient of a £50mn taxpayer bailout for Ineos’s Grangemouth plant in October – courtesy of the very system he spits upon was Jim Ratcliffe. Nonetheless he finds the energy to criticise people on benefits. Must be nice to belong to the exploitative class and be able to take from a common pot one doesn’t feel one needs to have to contribute into.
Corporate welfare, apparently, is an investment for ‘blank-check-billionaires’ who see themselves as too big to fail. Solidarity with those less fortunate – or the faint notion of civic responsibility – is a step too far for this flag-waving patriot, Brexit cheerleader, and self-styled defender of British sovereignty.
Unless, of course, we’re talking about his alignment with the Nigel Farages of this world: ever ready to sermonise about national independence – while yielding influence to billionaires and foreign powers. It’s not about sovereignty perhaps…it’s more about who one concedes it to?
The way forward
I’ve been a migrant and an expat – and the only differences between the two is how one is treated and the size of one’s bank account. Mr. Ratcliffe is one of that small group of people ready to blame everyone but themselves for the destruction their greed has caused. Poverty has been demonized, priorities are for profits, not for people or our planet, humans dehumanised to those who can be exploited for further wealth contribution or discarded for their uselessness.
It is time to stand up for civic values, for compassion, and to reject this cannibalistic culture that is dividing our society and filling it with hate. We cannot forget our own humanity; we cannot leave those who have been disfavoured in life to feel abandoned and afraid. We need to take back control of our right to care for each other and to respect our common dignity.
Our greatest strength lies in solidarity and collective unity.
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