Gary Neville has sparked a furious online backlash after his comments on the Manchester synagogue attack descended into a rant about ‘angry middle-aged white men’ dividing Britain by raising Union flags.
The former Manchester United and England defender made the comments around 24 hours after worshippers at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation were attacked by Syrian-born terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie.
Neville, 50, began his video, which he posted to LinkedIn on Friday, 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.’
But after pausing to take a breath as he walked down the street, Neville bizarrely switched his attention to the raising of flags – a movement called ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ which has gripped swathes of Britain this year.
He continued: ‘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.
‘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 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.’
The former defender, who now works as a pundit for Sky Sports when away from his £100million business empire spanning hospitality, property development and media, quickly moved to hit back at any claims he was being unpatriotic by doing so.
Gary Neville (above) has sparked a furious online backlash after his comments on the Manchester synagogue attack descended into a rant about ‘angry middle-aged white men’ dividing Britain by raising Union flags
The former footballer made the comments around 24 hours after worshippers at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation were attacked by Syrian-born terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie (above)
He said: ‘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.’
While many agreed with Neville’s sentiments that Britain should be on a united front, many in the Jewish community slammed him for going off on the tangent on a video he had titled ‘Thoughts on the horrible scenes in Manchester’.
Barrie Taube, who works as a managing director for several property and finance companies, thanked Neville for his support of British Jews but insisted that the division is not being caused by ‘middle-aged white men’.
He said: ‘It’s caused by antisemitic comments by bands such as Kneecap and other influential figures who give this legitimacy so that young people think this is OK. It is about education, stopping hate marches and acts of kindness.
‘The Labour Government which you champion so much has a lot to answer for.’
Mr Taube added that he even had to wear a bulletproof vest while working on security at his synagogue in Hale, saying: ‘This is what life is like now for Jews in the UK.’
Another Jewish Briton, Oli Kristall, who works for a technology company in Leeds, said: ‘Gary – I love your views on football but – respectfully, the start of your video was great but then it turned into tackling a totally wrong issue.
After speaking briefly about Thursday’s attack on Jews in Manchester, Neville switched his attention to the raising of flags – a movement called ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ which has gripped swathes of Britain this year (as seen above)
‘What have your views on Union Jack flags or “English white men” got to do with targeted murders on Jews yesterday in Manchester? It is totally wrong to turn yesterday’s murders into a way of making a point about something else!’
Annette Gordon, who has worked as a TV producer for major broadcasters in Britain such as ITV and Channel 4, replied to Neville’s post to say he was following ‘an approved narrative that is basically pretty biased’.
The producer asked: Is it really just “white middle-aged men”? You’ve kind of fallen into the trap that you say we are all in which is pointing the finger at one group and thereby polarising the argument. It is way more complex than that.’
Others who disagreed with Neville’s sentiments simply urged him to ‘Stick to Football’, in a reference to the title of the podcast he hosts.
Neville concluded his video by recalling his footballing memories at Old Trafford, where he shared a dressing room with British players as well as Africans, Asians, Americans and Europeans.
But in another twist, the former footballer then 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.’
Gary Neville’s representatives have been approached for comment.
