Gary Neville has revealed the "number one task" he thinks Boris Johnson's successor as Prime Minister should tackle when they get the keys to Downing Street. The former Manchester United star has outlined the five points he says the new PM should focus on after winning the Conservative leadership race.
A growing number of Conservative MPs and cabinet ministers have announced their intentions to run for the top job including Jeremy Hunt, Nadhim Zahawi, Tom Tugendhat, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Sajid Javid, Penny Mordaunt, Rehman Chishti and Grant Shapps.
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As well as being a Sky Sports pundit, Gary Neville is the chief executive of Relentless Group which is behind the St Michael's scheme in Manchester city centre.
Writing on LinkedIn, he said the "number one task" for the new PM "has to be for us to somehow restore decent honest behaviours within Number 10 and start to calm the waters". On his second point, health, he added: "We have a health crisis! Investment is required in facilities and people. We must invigorate the NHS and make it the priority it should be along with education.
"We’ve also been caught out by mental health. We have a fraction of the infrastructure and resource needed to cope with this huge problem. That means investment but it also means businesses taking care of Mental Health and sharing the funding. This hybrid strategy needs building asap."
Addressing education and skills, he said: "A long term view of education is required. We have a curriculum that isn’t wholly suited to the skills needed and jobs available in 2022. Their is also an immediate need to retrain/upskill the over 40s population to be able to qualify for the digital revolution we are within."
He also called on whoever wins the race to become the new PM to "stop ignoring" climate change and "set the standards".
He added: "Become less reliant on oil from other parts of the world. Encourage homeowners/business owners through economic relief to reduce energy consumption and alter habits."
Mr Neville, who also owns Hotel Football and the Stock Exchange hotel in Manchester as well as a stake in Salford City FC, has also appealed for the UK to be integrated into Europe.
He said: "This doesn’t mean overturn the referendum. However Johnson’s government were never going to be able to navigate through this difficult situation. He lied and recklessly signed a deal knowing it was flawed and we now need grown ups to fix the mess.
"We require strong trade relationships with the EU and also to deal with the issue of Northern Ireland. The economy is tanking and there’s a cost of living crisis and making this change would begin to move things in the right direction."
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