Gary Neville has torn into Sajid Javid after he defended Boris Johnson who is facing widespread criticism for attending a “bring your own booze party” in the Downing Street garden in May 2020 during the Covid lockdown.
Johnson gave his “heartfelt apologies,” during PMQs on Wednesday over his attendance at the garden party, which was leaked by ITN News courtesy of an email sent by Johnson’s principal private secretary Martin Reynolds who invited more than 100 employees to the event.
The prime minister has insisted that he thought the gathering was a “work event.”
While facing scrutiny from opposition MPs, Johnson did receive some support afterwards in the form of home secretary Sajid Javid who took to Twitter and wrote: “I completely understand why people feel let down. The PM did the right thing by apologising.
“Now we need to let the investigation complete its work. We have so much to get on with including rolling out boosters, testing and antivirals - so we can live with Covid.
I completely understand why people feel let down. The PM did the right thing by apologising. Now we need to let the… https://t.co/bCBDhYloDj— Sajid Javid (@Sajid Javid) 1642005789
However, this defence did not impress football pundit and former Manchester United player Gary Neville who has quite the experience in defending himself (goals not government scandals).
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Known for making his feelings abundantly clear on political issues, Neville took Twitter to slam Javid for defending his boss.
“People still working from home and kids wearing masks and you lot weren’t scared in Lockdown 1, yet terrified us all . You’ve been taking the p**s for 2 years,” he wrote.
People still working from home and kids wearing masks and you lot weren’t scared in Lockdown 1, yet terrified us al… https://t.co/gGgaHddghv— Gary Neville (@Gary Neville) 1642022474
It appears there are plenty of people who agreed with Neville, and that Johnson’s actions cannot be defended.
Lots of public will agree with Gary. Not parties so much as people feeling they've been taken for mugs. Covid WAS s… https://t.co/tzuvmw0ORX— Claire Fox (@Claire Fox) 1642024044
Gary nails it I'm afraid. Publicly they were going on TV with sad faces telling us to be good little children or ve… https://t.co/baVEHrLWGg— Angharad🎈 (@Angharad🎈) 1642057021
Gary Neville is quickly becoming a favourite of mine. Wish more ppl would stand up for what is right. https://t.co/GWy9hnh6lW— SoccerHobbyFC (@SoccerHobbyFC) 1642042371
Gary Neville for prime minister https://t.co/xKJ3mUApYH— . (@.) 1642027499
I don’t have much time for football these days but honestly I can’t find fault with @GNev2’s analysis of the govern… https://t.co/UWQRYz9640— Bob horsman 😀 (@Bob horsman 😀) 1642070976
Go on Gary laddddd https://t.co/T8bbUrQEAh— Harry Allerston (@Harry Allerston) 1642029722
Gary gets it https://t.co/VwYgHzO0Li— Aaron 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇦🇺 (@Aaron 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇦🇺) 1642028158
While others were worried that people would interpret Neville’s tweet as saying that Covid isn’t dangerous or serious because he’s said the government weren’t scared of the virus.
@GNev2 Careful you don’t fall down the antivax hole there Gary. You’ve got powerful things to say, don’t undermine… https://t.co/kBDnqOZsqm— Pan Dem (@Pan Dem) 1642024787
@GNev2 The fact that they were wrong to be so careless doesn’t mean we were wrong to be careful. We aren’t out of t… https://t.co/TnCsJYQndU— Alison Pearson Not the other one (@Alison Pearson Not the other one) 1642031317
@GNev2 Please don’t use your platform to diminish the seriousness of COVID. Please think about all those who have d… https://t.co/PnqKQ3iBdk— beth (@beth) 1642027607
Not the most helpful comment from our Gaz. It’s just emboldening those that believe this was never a serious proble… https://t.co/MR2aaP4epu— Simon Carline (@Simon Carline) 1642065589
I love Gary but if one thing let's him down its his seemingly unintentional flirting with covid denial, gets everyt… https://t.co/bp0k7cxjaI— ross.🪐 (@ross.🪐) 1642023686
Gary doesn’t appear to think COVID was worth worrying about. They always disappoint in the end. https://t.co/q2iC29LQTB— Frozenwarning (@Frozenwarning) 1642023435
It’s not the first time Neville has tweeted his anger towards the government over a scandal, as back in December when allegations of a Downing Street Christmas party arose, he told Johnson to “do one” in an epic Twitter rant.