Corbynista Gary Neville uses ITV football commentary role to blast Boris Johnson’s ‘poor’ leadership compared to Gareth Southgate in front of millions of viewers after England beat Denmark to reach Euro 2020 final
- Multi-millionaire socialist berated the PM live on national television last night
- Said: ‘The standards of leaders … in the last couple of years has been poor’
- Tory MP Michael Fabricant said: ‘Mixing sport and politics is never a wise move’
Former England star Gary Neville used his ITV commentary role to blast Boris Johnson’s ‘poor’ leadership last night as England beat Denmark to go through to the Euro 2020 final.
The multi-millionaire socialist, who backed Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour at the 2019 election, berated the Prime Minister in a withering comparison with Gareth Southgate after the Three Lions’ 2-1 win at Wembley.
Mr Neville, the former Manchester United defender turned property magnate and businessman, was part of ITV’s punditry team at the game, which saw England reach their first major final since 1966.
After the final while at a febrile national stadium he told millions of viewers: ‘The standards of leaders in this country in the last couple of years has been poor.
‘And looking at that man there that’s everything a leader should be: respectful, humble, telling the truth, genuine. He’s fantastic Gareth Southgate.’
But some questioned his outburst. Tory MP Michael Fabricant told MailOnline: ‘Mixing sport and politics is never a wise move.’
Mr Neville, the former Manchester United defender turned property magnate and businessman, was part of ITV’s punditry team at the game, which saw England reach their first major final since 1966.
The multi-millionaire socialist, who backed Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour at the 2019 election, berated the Prime Minister in a withering comparison with Gareth Southgate after the Three Lions’ 2-1 win at Wembley.
Mr Southgate, 50, has forged an impressive career in charge of the national team and has earned plaudits for speaking out on social issues
Mr Neville, 46, is a former Premier League and Champions League winner with Manchester United who became a highly respected pundit for Sky after hanging up his boots.
He is believed to be worth around £70million thanks to his football salary and a string of shrewd investments after retiring.
These include hotels and other property in an empire centred on Manchester, where he was born and raised.
But he has retained his leftwing politics. In December 2019 he urged his Twitter followers to vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, before the party was humiliated at the polls.
And last December he attacked Mr Corbyn’s replacement, Sir Keir Starmer, over Covid restrictions.
He accused Sir Keir of ‘sitting in the stands’ by abstaining on crucial coronavirus lockdown measures.
He insisted the Labour leader had a duty to be ‘bold’ and oppose lockdown rules over a lack of support for businesses.
He is not the first commentator to tear into Mr Johnson. In 2018, after the then backbencher commiserated with England after their World Cup defeat by Croatia, the BBC’s Gary Lineker said: ‘We all know you don’t give a monkey’s about the sport until you want to bask in any reflective glory. Bore off Boris.’
Mr Southgate, 50, whose missed penalty resulted in England going out of Euro 96 at the last-four stage, has forged an impressive career in charge of the national team and succeeded in going one step further than the 2018 World Cup semi-final as he and his players saw off Denmark 2-1.
The ex-Middlesbrough boss has earned widespread plaudits for not only his achievements with the team but his work on inclusivity and diversity issues too, and former national team-mate Neville lauded him as he celebrated on the Wembley pitch.
Meanwhile Labour today suggested Mr Johnson should spend some time ‘studying at the Gareth Southgate school of leadership’.
Shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire told the Commons the England manager ‘inspires his players to be the best they can be and to do it for their country, he backs them in their campaigning for social and racial justice, even under criticism, he instils relentless focus on hard work, he inspires them to be gracious in victory as well as learn from experience, and he’s rightly identified these values as patriotism’.
She said the Government should ‘honour’ the England team by focusing on other British values such as international aid, the NHS, the environment and a Covid public inquiry.
She said: ‘In contrast to the Prime Minister, Gareth Southgate and the England team value hard work, discipline, and preparation. The British people seem to appreciate those qualities, so for the sake of our country and the wonderful people who live and work here, I hope the Prime Minister can spend some time over the next few days studying at the Gareth Southgate school of leadership.
‘The British people will be asking themselves who they want to lead them – do they want someone who works hard and has a relentless focus on embodying British values, or do they want the current Prime Minister?’
Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg replied by quoting the lyrics to New Order’s World In Motion and then poet John Dryden, saying: ‘For they can conquer who believe they can.’
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