Rishi Sunak wades into Gary Neville Qatar workers' rights row

Football audiences don't want to hear Gary Neville discuss politics, Rishi Sunak has said after the ex-England footballer attacked the UK government.

Speaking on ITV ahead of the World Cup final, Mr Neville criticised Qatari working conditions as "abhorrent".

He said such conditions should not be accepted in Qatar or any region and then accused UK ministers of "demonising" rail workers and nurses.

And he said UK nurses - who are taking strike action - were paid a "pittance".

Speaking to the Daily Mail, the prime minister argued that as chancellor he had exempted NHS workers from a public sector pay freeze.

Responding to Mr Neville's comments he said: "I think when most people are tuning in to watch Gary Neville they want to hear about the football and watch the football. They don't want to discuss politics."

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Qatar has come under scrutiny for its treatment of the tens and thousands of migrant workers employed to build the stadiums and hotels ahead of the World Cup.

Asked about the country's treatment of workers, Mr Neville said: "It's abhorrent and we should detest low pay, detest low pay, poor accommodation and poor working conditions.

"That is something we can never ever accept in this region or in any region.

"It is just worth mentioning that we've got a current government in our country, who are demonising rail workers, ambulance workers and terrifyingly, nurses.

"So in our country, we've got to look at workers' rights but certainly where football goes now, we have to pick up on workers' rights wherever we go because people have to be equally treated.

"We can't have people being paid a pittance to work, we can't have people in accommodation which is unsavoury and disgusting, we can't have that. It shouldn't happen with the wealth that exists and it shouldn't happen in our country that our nurses are having to fight for an extra pound or two pounds."

'Not legitimate'

His comments attracted criticism from some MPs, with senior Conservative Simon Clarke tweeting: "It is beyond ridiculous that Gary Neville is given free rein by ITV Sport to overtly politicise a major sporting event.

"Quite apart from the fact every nurse is receiving a pay rise of £1400, to compare workers' rights in Qatar with the UK is grotesque."

Another Conservative MP, Lee Anderson, described Mr Neville's comments as a "party political broadcast by a millionaire".

"Looks like ITV is on my banned list now - talk about football Gary and keep your nose out of politics. You don't know what you're talking about."

Hitting back on Twitter, Mr Neville said he was glad he had upset Mr Anderson and described the Conservatives as "the biggest set of charlatans to ever be in power".

Asked about Mr Neville's comments during the ITV broadcast, the prime minister's spokesman said: "It is clearly not a legitimate or appropriate comparison in any way."

'Speak out'

Labour MP Rushanara Ali also questioned the comparison, telling the BBC's Politics Live: "These are very different societies and countries."

An ITV spokesman said: "Gary Neville was expressing his own personal views in the context of a discussion about treatment of workers in Qatar within a live broadcast. His views are his own and were not endorsed by ITV."

Media regulator Ofcom confirmed it had received complaints on the subject but had not yet decided whether or not to investigate.

In recent years, Mr Neville has become an outspoken critic of the Conservative government, describing former Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a "calamity".

He has also joined Labour and appeared at the party's recent annual conference, but has ruled out becoming a politician himself.

During the World Cup, in addition to providing punditry for ITV, Mr Neville has also worked for Qatari broadcaster beIN - a decision which has attracted criticism.

Defending the move on the BBC's Have I Got News For You programme, he said: "You've got a choice - my view has been, you can highlight the issues and challenges in these countries and speak out about them, or basically you don't say anything and don't go."