GARY NEVILLE has escaped punishment from Sky Sports following his rant about political division being driven by ‘angry middle-aged white men.’
The former Manchester United star and Sky Sports pundit, 50, uploaded a video to his LinkedIn account on Friday accusing those men of “using the Union Flag in a negative fashion”.
Per the Mail, the comments are not expected to trigger any punishment in relation to breaching Sky Sports’ guidelines on contributors’ conduct on their own social media channels.
Those guidelines read: “Talent and contributors should be aware that social media communities are public forums and should not undertake activity that brings either their programme or Sky into disrepute.”
But, despite backlash from the public and political figures such as Reform UK’s Lee Anderson and Dame Andrea Jenkyns, it seems that no further action is set to be taken against the presenter.
Neville risked breaching the guidelines when he went on the three-minute rant last week while walking around Manchester before uploading the video to his social media.
He began: “Seeing the news last night and the news this morning dominated by the horrific attacks within the Jewish community just a mile from here.
“When I was driving to Salford City last night, going down Littleton Road, seeing 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.
“And 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 rant came the day after the recent Manchester synagogue attack, with furious public reaction being fuelled in part by what some felt to be tone-deaf timing.
Neville elaborated on his reasoning for the outburst in the video, questioning the motives behind the recent movement of Britons attaching St George’s and Union flags to public infrastructure.
He continued: “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.”
The pundit was back on media duties at the weekend as he provided his expertise on Chelsea’s last minute win over Liverpool and Manchester City’s 1-0 victory over Brentford.
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