Gary Neville urges England be 'a team again' amid flag rows and rising tensions

With 85 caps for England and roaring Premier League success, Gary Neville clearly takes pride in his country and understands strength lies in unity.

But the Manchester United legend has warned the recent spate of St George and Union flags appearing in communities has been driven by a campaign of hate aimed at ­immigrants. And Neville blasted high-profile far-right figures who are turning Brits on each other by stoking ­division dressed up as patriotism.

He also appealed for unity in the face of rising tensions and urged the country to become “a team again”. In a video, he said: “The division being created is disgusting. Mainly created by angry middle-aged white men,who know exactly what they’re doing. I played for my country 85 times, I love my country.

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“I love Manchester and England, but I’ve been building in this city for 15 to 20 years and no one put a Union Jack flag up in the last 15 to 20 years, so why now?

“Clearly it’s sending a message to everybody that there’s something you don’t like. We’re all being turned on each other. All these idiots that are out there spreading hate speech in any form and abuse in any form, we must stop promoting them.”

Neville, 50, spoke hours after Jihad al-Shamie’s synagogue attack in Manchester which left two dead last Thursday. He told how he saw “50 or 60 Union Jack flags” as he drove in the city that night but on another road in the heart of the Jewish community he witnessed people “out on the streets, defiant, not hiding or in fear”.

The Operation Raise the Colours campaign has urged people to fly UK and England flags, claiming it is for “patriotic” reasons. And while clearly not everyone flying a flag is far right, the group is backed by divisive figures including Tommy Robinson.

One supporter said: “Gary Neville should be ashamed of himself. His country means nothing to him. Who does he think he is?” But others backed the Sky Sports pundit. One person wrote: “Gary is right. He represents civilised Britain.”

What Gary Neville said about flags in full

"So I’ve just left my house, walking to the office, waking up and seeing the news last night and the news this morning dominated by the horrific attacks within the Jewish community about a mile from here. 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.

"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, 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 being 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.

"I’ve played in a football team with a group of people from Manchester, a group of people from Ireland, Wales, Scotland. But also I’ve played with people from Africa, people from Asia, people from America, people from Europe – and we were a beautiful team, united as one.

" Brexit has had a devastating effect on this country and the messaging is getting dangerous, extremely dangerous. All these idiots that are out there spreading hate speech in any form and abuse in any form, we must stop promoting them.

It needs to stop now and get back to a country of love, of peace, of harmony and become a team again."