Gary Neville has admitted to pulling down a Union flag from a building in Manchester.
The football pundit hit out at ‘disgusting’ division being sewn in communities, ‘mainly by angry middle-aged white men’ in the wake of the synagogue attack in Manchester.
Neville said he had left his home on Friday morning to ’50 or 60′ Union flags in north Manchester.
‘I just kept thinking as I was driving home last night that we’re all being turned on each other.
‘The division that’s being created is absolutely disgusting. Mainly created by angry middle-aged white men who know exactly what they are doing.’
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In a clip shared on LinkedIn, the ex-footballer said he had a few weeks ago taken a union flag down from one of his construction sites ‘instantly’.
The former Manchester United defender was quick to highlight his patriotic credentials, having played for England 85 times, but said that flag raisers were using the nation’s colours to make a statement.
He clarified: ‘I love my country. I love Manchester. I love England. But I’ve been building in this city for 15, 20 years and there’s no-one put a union jack flag up so why do you need to put one up now?
‘Quite clearly it’s sending a message to everybody there’s something you don’t like. ‘
The Sky Sports commentator said that the national flag was being used in a ‘negative fashion’, adding that the country was being pulled ‘right and left’.
Neville further criticised ‘idiots spreading hate speech’, saying they should stop being promoted.
He continued: ‘Brexit has had a devastating impact on this country and the message is getting extremely dangerous.
‘All these idiots that are out there, spreading hate speech, in any form and abuse in any form, we must stop promoting them.
‘It needs to stop now and get back to a country of love, of peace, of harmony and become a team again.’
While some users praised Neville for calling out hate, others questioned why he had singled out ‘white middle-aged men’ as the cause of division across the country.
Producer Annette Gordon said Neville was peddling an ‘approved narrative that is basically pretty biased’.
She wrote: ‘You’ve kind of fallen into the trap that you say we are all in which is pointing the finger at one group & thereby polarising the argument. It is way more complex than that.’
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