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Gary Neville, who played for England for more than 10 years, has revealed that he removed a union flag from one of his development sites in Manchester as it was being “used in a negative fashion”.
The former footballer, who has developed properties since the age of 21, released a video on Friday followingthe Yom Kippur terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue, outlining his thoughts on recent events and questioning the patriotism behind putting up union flags.
The football pundit explained how he feels the nation is “being turned on each other” by “angry, middle-aged white men who know what they’re doing”.
Neville described heading down Bury New Road and witnessing the Jewish community coming together in the aftermath of the attack and being “out in the streets defiant”.
The ex-footballer turned property developer then compared it to a journey down Littleton Road in Salford, where he saw “probably 50-60” union jack flags, causing him to question why they are now being put up in such numbers.
“Funnily enough on one of my development sites last week there was a union jack flag put up and I took it down instantly,” said Neville.
“Some people might be watching this and thinking: ‘Gary you’re not really patriotic.’ I’ve played for my country 85 times, I love my country, I love Manchester and I love England.
“I’ve been building in this city for 15-20 years, and there’s no one put a union jack flag up in 15-20 years, so why do you need to put one up now?”
Neville added: “The union jack flag used in a negative fashion is not right and I’m a proud supporter of England, of Great Britain, of our country and will champion it anywhere in the world as one of the greatest places to live,
“But I think we need to check ourselves, check ourselves and start to think about bringing ourselves back to a neutral point because we’re being pulled right and left and we don’t need to be pulled right and left at all.”
Gary Neville: ‘I’ve played for my country 85 times, I love my country, I love Manchester and I love England’ (Peter Byrne/PA)
Neville has voiced his opinions on political and social issues before, including speaking about workers’ rights ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, the working conditions of NHS staff in the UK, critiquing Boris Johnson when he was prime minister and, more recently, hitting out at Chancellor Rachel Reeves over her decision to increase national insurance tax.
Faith and communities minister, Miatta Fahnbulleh, agreed with Neville’s assessment that there are people “trying to stoke tension” within the country and claimed that “life is really tough” for people across all communities at present.
She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “We’ve seen this playbook before. Life is really tough for people across our communities. I spent a lot of time going around our communities, talking to people. People are ground down.
“We’ve had a decade-and-a-half in which living standards haven’t budged and people have seen their communities held down. And you will get people trying to stoke division, trying to blame others, trying to stoke tension.”
However, Reform UK MP Lee Anderson disagreed with Neville’s judgement of the current political climate and called on the former footballer to “just shut up” on X (Twitter).
Anderson posted: “So @GNev2 is asking why people are now flying the union flag in their towns. I’ll tell you why – people feel threatened and feel they have not been listened to for decades.
“You had no problem in playing in front of the England flag. And the middle aged English men you talk about are the same type men that paid your wages. I believe in free speech but on this occasion just shut up.
“You are completely out of touch. And a bit of a hypocrite.”