A heated row has erupted over former footballer Gary Neville on GB News today as he was accused of "gaslighting" Britain during a furious tirade over national identity and immigration.
Pollster Matthew Goodwin condemned Mr Neville’s comments, claiming that people should be free to celebrate Britishness and fly the national flag without interference.
The explosive row came after the former footballer addressed his fans when he saw flags proudly hanging in the streets of Manchester.
In a social media rant, Mr Neville said: "I just kept thinking 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."
Matthew Goodwin said that Britain is being 'gas lit' by Gary Neville
|GB NEWS
Discussing his comments, Matthew said: "So I think a lot of people in British politics are gaslighting the country. They say that flying the flag is disgusting.
"What’s truly disgusting is imposing mass, uncontrolled immigration on a country that never voted for it, forcing people to live with broken borders and then charging them £15billion for the privilege.
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"And when they talk be very clear about this when they talk about hijacking the flag, what they never say is that the flag is actually being hijacked by people who want to turn Britishness and Englishness into nothing more than the celebration of diversity and multiculturalism.
"When they say they want to reclaim the flag, what they mean is they want to reshape who we are around bland, universal themes like diversity."
"Whereas everyone watching this show, everyone out there in the country, knows that flying the flag is about saying no. We do have a distinctive identity.
"We are proud to celebrate that identity, our history, and our collective memory.
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"Ultimately, flying the flag has become an act of resisting mass, uncontrolled immigration, resisting broken borders, and resisting this never-ending attempt to dilute who we are and reshape it around words that, frankly, don’t really mean anything at all."
The former editor of Labour List, Peter Edwards, responded: "First of all, I want to push back on what Matt said a bit. Let’s not use the word 'gaslighting'.
"That’s more akin to something you hear in a domestic abuse court case, I think it’s the wrong word in this context.
"In terms of Gary Neville, I mean, I’m a white, middle-aged man, hopefully not an angry one, and there are one or two white, middle-aged men in this studio."
Peter Edwards said that 'gaslight' is not the correct term
|GB NEWS
Matthew fumed in response: "Are you talking about me?"
He added: "Actually, I am angry. I'm angry with the state of the country. And gaslighting is the perfect word for it. Because you know what gaslighting is defined as?
"It is presenting an alternative, a perception of reality that is not grounded in reality. And that is what this Labour government is doing. It's what Gary Neville is doing.
"People out there should be able to fly their national flag, because those same people tell us that we have to fly every other flag, right?"
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