GARY Neville removed a Union Jack flag from one of his building sites – saying the British public are “being turned on each other”.
The Premier League legend posted a three-minute video to social media to voice his frustrations, seemingly in light of the synagogue terrorist attack last week.
Gary Neville shared the video to his LinkedIn account
SWNSEngland flags flying on lampposts on Genners Lane along Bartley Reservoir in Birmingham[/caption]
GettyGary Neville shared the video on LinkedIn on Friday[/caption]
Neville, 50, accused “angry, middle-aged white men” of dividing the country by “using the Union Flag in a negative fashion”.
He said he “instantly” took down a flag a contractor had erected at one of his sites in Manchester.
“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,” the Sky Sports pundit said in the clip posted to his LinkedIn account.
“Mainly created by angry middle-aged white men who know exactly what they’re doing.
“Funnily enough on one of my development sites last week there was a Union Jack flag put up and I took it down instantly.”
Former Manchester United captain Neville’s video, from Friday, puts him at odds with Sir Keir Starmer, who he joined for a Labour Party political broadcast prior to the general election last year.
The PM said Labour will “never surrender” the country’s flag.
It comes after members of the public have been putting up the St George’s Cross and the Union Flag in recent weeks.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said last month England flags can be “put up anywhere” after two councils tore them down.
Both Tower Hamlets and Birmingham local authorities in August sparked outrage for removing national flags from public places.
It triggered a nationwide “Operation Raise the Colours” campaign that saw the standards hoisted on lampposts and drawn on roundabouts.
Ex-England defender Neville added: “I was driving to Salford City, going down Littleton Road seeing probably 50 to 60 Union Jack flags.
“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, 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 need to put one up now?
“Because quite clearly it’s sending a message to everybody that there is something you don’t like.
“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.”
Terror attack
Jihad Al-Shamie was shot dead by police during his car and knife rampage at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, on Thursday morning.
Two people other died – including one from a police bullet – and three more were rushed to hospital amid the incident, which lasted just seven minutes, on what was the most holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Six people have been arrested in relation to the attack, but two have since been released without charge.
Cops have since revealed Al-Shamie was on bail over a suspected rape at the time of the rampage – though the Home Office has said he was not on the radar of counter terror cops.
Watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating Greater Manchester Police’s handling of the shooting, and says it will examine “whether police may have caused or contributed to the death” of one victim.
Al-Shamie, 35, thought to be of Syrian descent, was given British citizenship in 2006 having arrived as a young child.
Armed officers gunned him down amid fears he was wearing a bomb – though it was later determined to be a fake.
LinkedInNeville said he took down a flag from one of his Manchester building sites[/caption]
GettyTower Hamlets & Birmingham local authorities last month sparked outrage by removing England flags triggering ‘Operation Raise the Colours’[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
