Reidy wades into election debate
Former Sunderland boss Peter Reid has warned voters against supporting the Brexit Party or Conservatives in the General Election.
Speaking as both the Prime Minister and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage visited the North-East, Reid accused Nigel Far age and Boris Johnson of lying and tricking the people of the region.
And he warns that a vote for the Brexit Party or Conservative is ‘not just an own goal, it’s self-relegation.’
Peter Reid said :“If this election was a match, I’ d have probably been sent off.
“There is no way I could stay on the touch line and watch the good people of Sunderland or Sedgefield or the wider North East be lied to and tricked by the likes of Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.”
Backing local candidates who are calling for a second referendum, the former England international continued: “There’ s a statue next to the Stadium of Light.
“A working-class man in a flat clap, a woman wearing a scarf and two children reaching for a ball.
“No top hat and tails. No sign of privilege. No Eton scarf or Bullingdon Club cravat. But a placard saying today’s fans represent those past and those who will follow.
“It’s the same this election. How people vote on Thursday impacts on the lives of kids following.
“You vote Tory or Brexit Party then you take opportunity away from kids of the North East, you vote to make the poorest poorer, you vote to put our NHS in the sweaty hands of Donald Trump.
“It’s not just an own goal, it’s self-relegation.”
His comments come as PM Boris Johnson visited Sunderland in a bid to gather support in the final week of the election campaign.
Mr Johnson has told voters in leave-voting Labour heartlands that they had been ‘betrayed’ by Labour over Brexit.
However in a direct message to voters, Mr Reid said: “Johnson is not your mate. Ex-Tory Farage is not your mate. They just want your votes. “Johnson said working class men ‘are likely to be drunk, criminal, aim less, feckless and hopeless.’ He thinks he can get away with it.
“Well, I' ve a message for Boris Johnson.
“The people who shouted us on to promotion twice and finishing seventh twice, were none of those things.
“They were smart, honest people full of hope. As am I.”