Gary Neville has been accused of “hating his country” after mistakenly mixing up the British and English flags.
The mix-up came as Neville hit out at Tory MP Tom Pursglove, Minister for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration, following the announcement of the new immigration partnership with Rwanda.
The new deal means immigrants arriving in the UK will be sent to the African country for processing.
Neville, who has been heavily critical of the scheme, posted a picture of Mr Pursglove on Twitter alongside the caption: “Look at me, I’m English and I’m proud to send ‘em back to Rwanda.”
The tweet was accompanied by a string of Union Jack flag emojis.
Gary Neville hit out at the Rwanda immigration scheme
Martin Rickett
Neville posted the Tweet aimed towards Tom Pursglove on Friday morning
Twitter/@GNev2
Former Tory MEP David Bannerman hit back at his comments, while also offering a sly dig at the former Premier League star’s use of the Union Jack.
Mr Bannerman said: “Why do you hate your country so much Gary? It’s the British flag by the way. Brain left in your boots?”
Mr Pursglove appeared on GB News’ Farage on Thursday night to provide some clarity over the new scheme.
The Tory MP said: “The key point is that we need to get the system into a much more sustainable position, this is not sustainable at the moment.”
Nigel probed the minister over how the scheme would work by saying: “A young undocumented male is taken in to Dover docks, is the plan that he would go pretty much straight to Rwanda. Or would there be some assessment here before he was put on the plane?”
To which, Mr Pursglove replied: “Obviously we have to be compliant with our international obligations that is essential and of course as the Prime Minister eluded to today, there is a significant chance that we will be legally challenged.
“Which is why it’s crucial that we live up to the legal obligations and I would argue that legal challenge is baseless if those international obligations are lived up to, which we will do.
“Individuals will be screened on their arrival.
“The determining factor is whether they are safe to be relocated to Rwanda and we would then want to get on to do that as quickly as possible.”
The former Brexit Party leader continued his questioning: "And if they pass their refugee status test in Rwanda do they come back to the UK?"
Mr Pursglove said “No, they stay in Rwanda, I must be very clear about that point.
“And if they fail?” Nigel added.
The Tory MP said: “That is a matter for the Rwandan authorities. Effectively the moment people step off the plane in Rwanda, they are the responsibility of the Rwandan government.”