Neville, speaking through his LinkedIn account, took aim at “angry middle-aged white men” and offered his take on the trend of Britons fastening St George and Union Jack flags to lampposts and bridges across the country. The 50-year-old spoke out after the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation tragedy, which saw Syrian-born terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie stage a deadly knife and car rampage.
He began by saying: “Seeing the news last night and the news this morning dominated by the horrific attacks within the Jewish community, just a mile from here.” He then turned his attention to the ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ flag movement – co-founded by Andrew Currien, a close ally of Tommy Robinson – and went on to say: “When I was driving to Salford City last night, going down Littleton Road, I seen probably 50 or 60 Union Jack flags. And on the way back I went down the parallel road, Bury New Road, which has got the Jewish community right at its heart and they’re out on the streets, defiant, not hiding or in fear. Funnily enough on one of my development sites last week there was a Union Jack flag put up and I took it down instantly.”
Neville added: “I just kept thinking as I was driving home last night that we’re all being turned on each other, and the division that’s being created is absolutely disgusting. Mainly created by angry, middle-aged white man, who know exactly what they’re doing.”
Said comments generated lively debate, with Sky Sports reportedly being threatened with boycott action. Their company guidelines state: “Talent and contributors should be aware that social media communities are public forums and should not undertake activity that brings either the programme or Sky into disrepute.” The Daily Mail reports that “the pundit is not expected to face any action”.
This is not the first time that Neville has shared his opinion on political matters, having previously spoken out against working conditions in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup and condemned the behaviour and leadership of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Reform UK MP Lee Anderson is among those to have responded to Neville, saying: “I believe in free speech but on this occasion just shut up. 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 of men that paid your wages.”
Neville refuted any suggestion that his comments were unpatriotic, saying: “I played for my country 85 times, I love my country. I love Manchester and I love England, but I’ve been building in this city for 15 to 20 years and there’s no one put a Union Jack flag up in the last 15 to 20 years, so why do you have to put one up now? Quite clearly it’s sending a message to everybody that there’s something you don’t like.
“The Union Jack flag being used in a negative fashion is not right and I’m a proud supporter of England, Great Britain, of our country, and I’ll champion it anywhere in the world as one of the greatest places to live. But I think we need to check ourselves, bring ourselves back to a neutral point, because we’re being pulled right and left and we don’t need to be, at all.”
He added: “Brexit has had a devastating impact on this country and the messaging is getting extremely dangerous. All these idiots out there spreading hate speech and abuse in any form, we must stop promoting them. We must stop elevating our voices towards them and it needs to stop now, and get back to a country of peace, love, harmony and become a team again.”
Neville, who is a co-owner of League Two side Salford City alongside fellow Class of ‘92 graduate David Beckham, boasts a sprawling property empire in Greater Manchester. The Mail states that claims of Sky being “bombarded with demands” to remove Neville from his role are “unfounded”.
