Gary Neville sparked fury yesterday by comparing striking UK workers with migrant labourers in Qatar.
The football pundit launched the bizarre rant during ITV's coverage of the World Cup final, saying that British ministers were 'demonising' public sector staff.
He claimed the conditions for striking nurses and railway workers were like those faced by Qatar's huge foreign labour force. The Gulf state has been criticised over allegedly exploitative employment practices and for the number of deaths on construction projects.
Former levelling-up secretary Simon Clarke said the comparison was 'grotesque' while ITV said it did not endorse Neville's views.