‘I see injustice each day and what cuts are doing to people’ – Nev
FOOTBALLER 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 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 the 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 are 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 winning 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 under-funded.”
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.
“There should not be anyone in this country using a foodbank or being homeless,” he said. “It’s quite easy to send a million quid to India or wherever in aid because you don’t have to follow it up. Here you have to follow things through.”
And he has a pessimistic view of the future.
“The next generation should be better off than we are,” Nev said.
“But it is going to get worse with Universal Credit because that won’t work properly,” he said. “They should be ashamed of themselves that there are even homeless people.
“You hear stories of the police moving people on in Cardiff when the rugby is on.”
He compared the plight of the homeless with the money being pumped into Brexit.
“We are going to pay £40bn to leave the EU and Boris is paying Iran £400m. Maybe we could find some money to care for the homeless,” he said.
Having backed Labour at the most recent general election, the sportsman said he was keen to see political change. “This country is in a right mess and needs someone strong to come in,” he said. “I hope that will be Jeremy Corbyn but whether he’ll get in in the end I don’t know,” he said.
“He seems to be committed to the people.I’ve never met him but he seems like a compassionate person. He dubbed Theresa May’s government “the most uncommunicative people in the world”.
“There should be a weekly meeting of the PM with people who use foodbanks, with a policeman, a fireman, nurse, someone on a zerohours contract, and they should listen to them,” he said.
But, despite his outspoken views, Nev has no plans to stand for public office.
“I can’t talk the way they talk,” he said.
“They talk in riddles and what they say means nothing.”