This isn’t the first time Neville has taken aim at those in power
Gary Neville has hit out at Home Secretary Priti Patel after she posted a message of support for the England team on Twitter.
Gareth Southgate’s side made swift work of Ukraine in the quarter finals of Euro 2020, demolishing the Eastern Europeans 4-0 out in Rome.
Understandably, the nation was elated – including those in government – but ITV pundit Neville wasn’t having any of it.
Patel tweeted: “What a performance. What a team. #ItsComingHome!” to which Neville replied, quoting the Home Secretary’s post before adding: “The cheek of you!”
The cheek of you ! https://t.co/wLyHzw3tw9
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) July 4, 2021
Neville wasn’t the only one frankly unimpressed by Patel’s message.
Ex-England rugby international Brian Moore, often a stern critic of the government himself, wrote: “The team you say indulges in gesture politics and can be booed.
“The saddest thing about this is the number people who will be duped by your faux pride and support.”
The team you say indulges in gesture politics and can be booed.
The saddest thing about this is the number people who will be duped by your faux pride and support. https://t.co/2chsocnegi— Brian Moore (@brianmoore666) July 4, 2021
Patel has previously criticised the England squad for taking the knee before games, a symbolic anti-racism gesture.
Patel said the following to GB News:
“I just don’t support people participating in that type of gesture – gesture politics, to a certain extent, as well.
“It’s all well to support a cause and make your voices heard but actually quite frankly, and we saw quite frankly in particular as some of the protests that took place – I speak now very much in what I saw in the impact on policing – it was devastating.
“Not only that, I just don’t subscribe to this view that we should be rewriting our history – pulling down statues, the famous Colston statue, and what’s happened there. Toppling statues is not the answer, it’s about learning from our past, learning from our history and actually working together to drive the right outcome.”
Patel probably needs to be reminded that were it not for immigration, the England squad itself would be absolutely threadbare – and nowhere near as competitive on the international stage.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQwT79gIsBX/?utm_source=ig_embed
Neville’s tweet isn’t the first time he’s criticised those in power.
He has previously taken aim at Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and previously called the current Tory government the “biggest set of charlatans to ever be elected”.
