The Lesson Sir Jim Ratcliffe Could Learn From My Immigrant Father-in-Law

The billionaire Manchester United owner caused a storm when he claimed the UK had been ‘colonised’ by immigrants. The tax exile is no patriot, Sangita Myska writes

There is always something particularly incendiary about a political scandal when it collides with the world of football.

My litmus test on such matters is my father-in-law who, like most people, has a passing interest in politics but a passionate interest in sport, and in particular his local football club Manchester United.

So, when Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of the country’s richest men and the co-owner of Manchester United, recently claimed that “the UK has been colonised by immigrants” – who he heavily implied were a bunch of scroungers – both me and my 84-year-old, Indian-origin father-in-law were all ears.