is this racist

Did he directly say that to you? That does sound like it was said with malicious and racist intent

No one can say it and you shouldn’t jump into conclusions. You have no idea what that man meant. Let’s not call people out on racism if we don’t even know what they are talking about. Just stirring up unnecessary problems.

Are you non-white?

If the individual did not make any mention of race or use any slurs, it is difficult to assume racial hatred without any context to the comments.
He may have been grumbling about his perception of pandemic restrictions in England or making criticisms of the recent history/policies of the current Conservative government.

No point asking on this website. Most people here will defend racist comments when someone they know makes one and try to justify it. I have first-hand experience of this.

To answer your question, it depends on the context of what was said, so it's impossible to make a valid judgement.

No one can say it and you shouldn’t jump into conclusions. You have no idea what that man meant. Let’s not call people out on racism if we don’t even know what they are talking about. Just stirring up unnecessary problems.

Lmfao whenever someone has said something along the same lines it's usually with racist intent so they had reason to question what it meant. And you also had no idea what the man meant so don't criticise the person for asking.