Footballer turned developer questions spate of flag raisings and says ‘we’re all being turned on each other’
Gary Neville has revealed he removed a union flag from one of his Manchester development sites because it was being “used in a negative fashion”, as he urged his followers to question what it means to be patriotic.
In a video posted on Friday, the day after a deadly attack at a Manchester synagogue, the former footballer turned property developer said he believed that “we’re all being turned on each other”, attributing much of the blame for the divide to “angry, middle-aged white men … who know exactly what they’re doing”.
He described driving down Littleton Road, in the Salford neighbourhood, and seeing “probably 50-60 union jack flags” on that stretch of his journey. He then compared that with his return drive through the parallel road, Bury New Road, where the Jewish community were “out in the streets, defiant, not hiding or in fear”.
Neville, who has built a vast property empire in Manchester since retiring from football in 2011, said he took down a union flag being displayed on one of his building sites.
