'If this election was a match, I’d have probably been sent off' - Ex-Sunderland boss Peter Reid's explosive election rant

Speaking as both the Prime Minister and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage visited the North East, Reid accused Nigel Farage 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 touchline 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.”

The Conservatives have categorically denied that the NHS will be part of any trade discussions throughout the election campaign.

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. And are hoping to sell us a pup twice.

“First it was on the side of a big red bus, now it’s promises of 50,000 nurses which turns out to be 31,000 or 40 new hospitals that turn out to be six.

“Johnson said working class men ‘are likely to be drunk, criminal, aimless, 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. Which is why I hope people will vote for Phil Wilson in Sedgefield or Bridget Phillipson and Julie Elliott in Sunderland.

“People from the area who know its values, who have been there through good times and bad, and who genuinely care about the people of the North East - not just their votes.”

The full list of candidates in Sedgefield are; David Bull, The Brexit Party; John Furness, Green Party; Paul Howell, Conservative and Unionist Party; Mike Joyce, Independent; Dawn Elizabeth Welsh, Liberal Democrats; Phil Wilson, Labour.

The full list of candidates in Houghton and Sunderland South are; Richard Peter Bradley, Green Party; Paul Edgeworth, Liberal Democrats; Richard Elvin, UK Independence Party (UKIP); Christopher John Charles Howarth,

Conservative and Unionist Party; Bridget Phillipson, Labour Party; Kevin Yuill, The Brexit Party.

The full list of candidates in Sunderland Central are; Tom D'Silva, Conservative and Unionist Party; Julie Elliott, Labour Party; Rachel Featherstone, Green Party; Niall Hodson, Liberal Democrats; Dale McKenzie, Independent; Viral Parikh, The Brexit Party.