'Astonishing': Debt-ridden Manchester United plan £2bn stadium – with Labour support

FURY has met plans from Manchester United for a new £2 billion stadium – financially backed by the Labour Government.

Keir Starmer’s party have allocated £1bn in public funds to support the Manchester football club – five times the funding it has pledged to help find a future for the closing Grangemouth oil refinery.

On Tuesday, Manchester United – which like Grangemouth is part-owned by the billionaire Jim Ratcliffe – unveiled its plans for a new stadium and grounds.

The BBC reported that the news came despite the club owing in excess of £1bn in debt. Chief executive Omar Berrada said he was "quite confident we'll find a way to finance the stadium".

The Scottish Greens questioned why the UK Government was handing Ratcliffe’s debt-ridden club £1bn while only allocating £200m for Grangemouth.

MSP Gillian Mackay, who represents central Scotland and is from Grangemouth, said: “Jim Ratcliffe’s ludicrous vanity project is a betrayal of workers in Grangemouth who are being laid off while the UK Labour Government lines the pockets of the billionaire who is destroying our local community. 

“I find it astonishing that Keir Starmer thinks he can get away with giving Jim Ratcliffe a billion-pound handout of taxpayers’ cash to build an outrageous football stadium for a privately run business rather than saving jobs in Grangemouth. 

“Labour promised to help workers in Grangemouth, but instead, they have thrown the community under a Manchester United team bus.”

She added: “Imagine what that £1 billion could have been used for within communities like Grangemouth. Once again, this UK Government has shown that their priorities are wrong.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham also hit out, saying Ratcliffe's "priorities are completely wrong".

"Rather than looking to redevelop Old Trafford, he should be concentrating on the future of the Grangemouth refinery," the trade union boss said.

“Unless Ratcliffe does the right thing at Grangemouth, the Government should refuse to provide any assistance to his Old Trafford plans.”

Ratcliffe has claimed that the new Manchester stadium will be the “world’s greatest” football ground.

His Premier League club have been examining whether to redevelop their Old Trafford home or build a new stadium in the same area in conjunction with the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force.

United have now confirmed their “intention to pursue a new 100,000-seater stadium as the centrepiece of the regeneration of the Old Trafford area” as they throw their “support behind the Government’s growth agenda”.

Conceptual image of what the new Manchester United stadium and surrounding area could look like (Image: Foster + Partners/PA Wire) Scaled models and conceptual images for how the new Old Trafford and surrounding area could look were revealed on Tuesday morning at the London headquarters of architects Foster + Partners, appointed in September to design the stadium district.

“Today marks the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world’s greatest football stadium, at the centre of a regenerated Old Trafford,” Ratcliffe said.

“Our current stadium has served us brilliantly for the past 115 years, but it has fallen behind the best arenas in world sport.

“By building next to the existing site, we will be able to preserve the essence of Old Trafford, while creating a truly state-of-the-art stadium that transforms the fan experience only footsteps from our historic home.

“Just as important is the opportunity for a new stadium to be the catalyst for social and economic renewal of the Old Trafford area, creating jobs and investment not just during the construction phase but on a lasting basis when the stadium district is complete.

Jim Ratcliffe has stakes in both Grangemouth and Manchester United (Image: PA) “The Government has identified infrastructure investment as a strategic priority, particularly in the north of England, and we are proud to be supporting that mission with this project of national, as well as local, significance.”

The move to a new ground has been backed by former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

“Manchester United should always strive for the best in everything it does, on and off the pitch, and that includes the stadium we play in,” Ferguson said.

“Old Trafford holds so many special memories for me personally, but we must be brave and seize this opportunity to build a new home, fit for the future, where new history can be made.”

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, formed part of the task force and believes a new stadium at the heart of the area’s regeneration can benefit the UK as a whole.

He said: “If we get this right, the regeneration impact could be bigger and better than London 2012.”

Manchester United estimate the stadium and wider regeneration project has the potential to add an extra £7.3bn each year to the UK economy, with the possibility to create more than 17,000 homes and 92,000 jobs.