Gary Neville has criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson for 'fuelling' racism after an incident during the Manchester derby.
Manchester United stars Fred and Jesse Lingard appeared to be racially abused by a fan during the second half of the match at the Etihad.
Manchester City issued a statement and confirmed they were working with Greater Manchester Police to identify the individual.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has called for the fan to be handed a lifetime ban but Neville believes it is a wider issue.
The former United skipper addressed the incident on Sky Sports after the game when he suggested society is not helping.
"It is happening in our country, our league," Neville said.
"You are watching the Prime Minister's debate last night where he is talking about migration to this country, and people having to have certain levels.
"It fuels it all the time. It has got worse over the last few years in this country and not just in football."
His comments were backed up by fellow pundit Jamie Redknapp, who added: "It is a society problem.
"These are his views and he is walking around like that.
"It is terrible and something has to be done. It is not just about banning him from football. Everyone has a responsibility.
"He thinks he can come to a came and racially abuse someone playing football. It is disgusting."
Neville also suggested English football has a greater responsibility, after the wide condemnation of Bulgaria fans after Gareth Southgate's players were racially abused earlier this year.
He added: "We always judge other countries on how they deal with racism but we are poor with dealing with it ourselves.
"It continues to keep coming back and won't go away until correct punishments are handed out."
Roy Keane added: "There are idiots everywhere. They will find the guy and hopefully there will be proper punishment.
"It hasn't been strong enough over the last few years but there must be zero tolerance."
