Gary Neville says Sir Keir Starmer has not done anything wrong by accepting football freebies
Former Manchester United footballer and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has put the boot into critics of Sir Keir Starmer accepting thousands of pounds worth of football freebies.
The prime minister has been attacked by Tory MPs after he declared receiving £12,588 in gifts from the Premier League, including tickets for Arsenal matches totalling more than £6,000.
But Neville, a former Manchester United captain who won 85 caps for England, told Sky News that Sir Keir had “not done anything wrong”, and watching Arsenal with his family was “his only release”.
Politics live: Sky News tracks down Labour donor
“I’m startled at the amounts of scrutiny that this has received,” the prominent Labour supporter told Sky News at the party’s conference in Liverpool.
“It’s well out of proportion. Everybody has known that Keir Starmer, with his family, has gone and watched Arsenal. He has paid for season tickets for decades. It’s one of his main releases every single week. The only release, actually.
“When I spoke to him two years ago at the Labour Party conference and said: ‘How do you get away from politics and how do you spend time with your family?’ he said the one moment he has each week is when he goes to Arsenal with his boys.
“The idea that he’s paid for those tickets for years is absolutely right. But he’s now being told by security detail he can’t sit in those same seats. He’s being told that he needs to go into a hospitality box as prime minister.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Neville added: “My honest view of that is that why would we have a problem with that? We’ve seen so many people being wined and dined at football grounds over the last 10, 15, 20 years in directors’ boxes and hospitality boxes and never said a word.
“And a genuine fan of a football club that goes with his children can’t now go and watch his football team when he’s the prime minister of the country is just a nonsense to me.”
He also pointed to the record of the Conservative government, including Rishi Sunak’s use of a £40m helicopter contract and VIP lanes for suppliers during COVID, saying: “That didn’t get anywhere near the same level of scrutiny, it’s just bizarre to me.
Read more:
Starmer declares gifts totalling more than £100,000
Westminster Accounts: Search for your MP
Gary Neville has appeared alongside Sir Keir Starmer at previous conferences. Pic: Reuters
Neville, who is now a successful property developer, was at the party’s conference in Liverpool alongside Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, with the pair backing regeneration of his former club’s Old Trafford stadium.
Both were “absolutely unequivocal” that no public money should be put into the ground itself, but they called for cash to be used to redevelop the area around it and to relocate a nearby freight rail terminal to Merseyside – freeing up space for the stadium and also boosting the local economy.
“When you talk about Northern Powerhouse as a levelling up, the previous government’s motto, none of that has ever happened,” said Neville. “It’s just words. It’s a PR slogan.
“What this will do is redistribute the freight into a different part of the North West to allow capacity to open up in Greater Manchester, in Liverpool, and other parts and beyond, which will have a massive impact on the economy locally.”
He added: “We’re talking about an opportunity that could regenerate the area in Trafford, in Greater Manchester but also correct what would be a struggling transport network in the north of England. So it’s a win-win all around.”
Asked what football fans could expect from a new Old Trafford stadium, Mr Burnham also told Sky News: “They can expect one of, if not the best, stadiums in the world.
“But around that, residents can expect better community facilities and many thousands of jobs. We will bring new investors to Greater Manchester to invest in this area because of how attractive it will be to be close to that name, Manchester United.
“So there’ll be benefits for everybody from this, not just supporters of Manchester United. Everybody will benefit from the scheme. Not least rail passengers, who will have more uninterrupted journeys because we get rid of the freight trains.”
Nigel Farage has told Sky News he “can’t be pushed or bullied” by anybody after Elon Musk said the Reform MP “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead his party.
In an interview with Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue, Mr Farage said he has spoken with the billionaire owner of X since his criticism on 5 January, when Mr Musk said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
Politics latest: Reeves arriving in China for economic talks
Asked if the pair are still friends, Mr Farage said: “Of course we’re friends. He just says what he thinks at any moment in time.”
He added he has “been in touch” with Mr Musk, though wouldn’t divulge what they had discussed.
“Look, he said lots of supportive things. He said one thing that wasn’t supportive. I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Mr Farage said.
Musk and Farage met in December. Pic: PA
Asked if he was afraid to criticise the tech mogul, the Clacton MP said the situation was “the opposite”, and he openly disagreed with Mr Musk on his views on far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “What he [Musk] was saying online was that effectively Tommy Robinson was a political prisoner and I wouldn’t go along with that.
“If I had gone along with that, he wouldn’t have put out a tweet that was against me.
“By the way, you know, I can’t be pushed or bullied or made to change by anybody.
“I stick to what I believe.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson and claimed he was “telling the truth” about grooming gangs, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
But Mr Farage said that Robinson, who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, isn’t welcome in Reform UK and neither are his supporters.
He said: “If people within Reform think Tommy Robinson should be a member of Reform and play a central role in Reform, that disagreement is absolutely fundamental.
“I’ve never wanted to work with people who were active in the BNP. I’ve made that clear right throughout the last decade of my on/off political career. So that’s what the point of difference is.”
Despite their disagreement, Mr Farage said he is confident Mr Musk will continue to support Reform and “may well” still give money to it.
The entrepreneur has previously spoken positively about Reform UK and there have been suggestions he could make a multi-million-pound donation in its favour.
Devolution plans ‘denial of democracy’
Mr Farage was speaking from Reform’s South East of England Conference, one of a series of regional events aimed at building up the party’s support base.
Elsewhere in the interview, he hit out at the Labour government’s devolution plans which could see some local elections scheduled for May postponed.
This would apply when councils seek permission to reorganise, so that smaller district authorities merge with other nearby ones to give them more sway over their area.
Mr Farage, who is hoping to make gains in the spring contests, claimed the plans are not about devolution but about “elections being cancelled”.
“I thought only dictators cancelled elections. This is unbelievable and devolution or a change to local government structures is being used as an excuse,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage earlier this month. Pic: PA
He claimed Tory-controlled councils are “grabbing it like it’s a life belt”, because they fear losing seats to Reform.
“It’s an absolute denial of democracy,” he added.
Mr Farage was also asked why many Reform members don’t like to speak on camera about why they support his party.
He said he did not accept there was a toxicity associated with Reform and claimed there was “institutional bias against anybody that isn’t left of centre”.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
Read more from Sky News:
Trump to be sentenced today over porn star hush money
‘It’s an apocalypse’ – families return to homes reduced to ruins by wildfires
The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway