‘I SEE INJUSTICE AND I SEE WHAT DO TO PEOPLE
Big Nev airs his social awareness and
F OOTBALLER Neville Southall is best remembered as the nononsense goalkeeper who racked up 92 Wales caps. But, thanks to Twitter, Big Nev has emerged as a political firebrand with a social conscience.
This week he has welcomed a pledge by 193 nations to tackle the problem of plastic in the seas, criticised the “weak and incapable” Tories, and expressed support for “the LGBT community”.
“I see injustice every day and I see what the cuts do to people every day,” the 59-year-old said.
“And that cannot be right in our society.
“Politicians get away with murder. We seem to forget about the people at the bottom and focus on the people at the top.”
He accepted that resolving world’s problems was not easy.
“We have not found anything that works for everyone,” the former Everton stopper said.
“Communism does not work for everyone and capitalism does not work for everyone. “We need to get a better society.” Llandudno-born Neville has never been a fan of the right.
“When Thatcher came in it was all ‘Me, me, me’. That’s not good,” he said.
“We need to be able to look after everyone else but all the community has gone out of the world.”
Nev, who has worked as a binman, waiter and hod carrier, as well as a successful sportsman, said he was worried that “more and more people are isolated” in today’s society.
“If you are in power you should do what is right for the people and not for the party,” he said.
“I think politicians get into politics for the right reasons. But when they get there they get corrupted.
“They start having more expenses and earning more money.
“They start getting more power and a lot of them – not all – start losing their way.”
They were out of touch with the common man, he said.
“Most of them have nice houses and cars and they grow away from the people they are supposed to represent,” he said.
“They do not have the same passion or understanding or know the problems in the area.”
The ex-Everton star – who appeared a record 751 times for the club and is their most-decorated player after win- the ning two League Championships, two FA Cups and the European Cup Winners’ Cup – said he was worried about the future of the NHS and about education.
“The NHS is getting cut to bits and the Tories want it privatised, and it would be like America, but you cannot have that because not everyone can afford it,” he said.
“We’ve an education system that is okay but vastly underfunded.”
He worried pastoral care was ignored because of the importance placed on league tables.
“There are so many mental health issues in education,” he said.
Big-hearted Nev said he was appalled by the poverty he saw around him.