Gary Neville delivers scathing verdict on Tories as he backs Keir Starmer

Football legend Gary Neville has branded Keir Starmer “a future Prime Minister who the country can believe in” as he hit out at Tory chaos.

The former Manchester United and England full-back made the remark after filming an election broadcast with the Labour leader. In the five-minute video, filmed in the Lake District, Mr Starmer outlined his plans for Government, saying he’s ready to “hit the ground running”.

Three Lions hero Mr Neville said: “It was a privilege to spend the morning with Keir filming this in the beautiful Lake District, he is a future Prime Minister who the country can believe in and trust. It’s in your hands. You have the power to make change happen. Vote Labour.”

In the clip, which saw Mr Starmer return to the spot he enjoyed family holidays as a child, Mr Neville said the public are “desperately disappointed” in the Government. He backed Mr Starmer to turn things around.

The ex-footballer warned that years of chaos mean candidates from all parties are viewed as “two cheeks of the same backside”. In the video he said: “The country are desperately disappointed, just generally, in politicians. They quite often use language like ‘They’re all the same’, ‘Two cheeks of the same backside.'”

Mr Neville asked the Labour boss: “How do you change that? Because that is something that has been set now for quite a few years.” Mr Starmer responded: “Action not words. I don’t think people are going to believe that politics has changed until they see it has changed.”

Mr Neville also quizzed the aspiring PM about tax and fears a Labour Government would oversee hikes. Mr Starmer said: “It’s one of the reasons why I appointed Rachel Reeves as Chancellor, she’s obviously got Bank of England experience and she’s got iron rules… She will not sign off anything unless it’s fully costed and fully funded.”

Acknowledging the scale of the task if he does win, Mr Starmer said Labour hopes to oversee a “decade of national renewal”, stating: “It’s going to take time.”

The pair spoke movingly about Mr Starmer’s parents. Mr Neville asked the aspiring PM: “If your mum and dad were here now, in these cottages, what would they be saying to you?” Mr Starmer, who seemed to blink back tears, said: “If she was back here now and I was in a race to be a candidate to be Prime Minister of this country they’d be really proud. It would be a real incredible moment, it really would.”

The pair were recorded strolling in the Lake District as he spoke about dad Rodney, who died in 2018, and mum Joesphine, who passed away in 2015. Mr Starmer revealed his parents had taken him and his three siblings there every year as a child.

In a chat with the former full-back and Sky Sports presenter, he outlined his plans for a Labour Government if he wins on July 4, saying his team is ready to “hit the ground running on day one”. Mr Neville, who made 400 appearances for Manchester United and won 85 England caps, told him: “What the British people want to know is what is going to change on day one.”

The Labour leader – who is looking increasingly likely to be the next PM – said: “We’re going to hit the ground running. From the very get-go, day one. First of all stabilise the economy, we’ve got to get that under control. Secondly making sure we bring down the (NHS) waiting lists.”

Speaking ahead of the broadcast, the Labour leader said: “Seeing those same sites and cottages we so often visited on our family holidays was an emotional time for me. It gave me pause for thought to remind me why I do this job.”

And referring to his mum, who was a nurse, he said: “It made me think of my mum, a public servant in the NHS for so many years, and those like her across the country who so heavily count on it in the toughest moments.”

In speeches, Mr Starmer has often spoken about his dad’s job as a toolmaker and how it gave him “a deep respect for the dignity of work”. He described his father as “distant” because of the responsibility of caring for his mother – and he regretted not addressing this before his death.

In a heartbreaking excerpt from a recent biography of the Labour leader by Tom Baldwin, Mr Starmer described finding a scrapbook of cuttings his father kept about his career and realising for the first time that he’d been proud of him.