Keir Starmer hints at extra bank holiday if England win the World Cup
Sir Keir Starmer has strongly hinted that there could be an extra bank holiday if England wins the World Cup.
England are facing a quarter-final clash against Norway at the weekend, following an incredible 3-2 win against Mexico this week.
Millions of England fans stayed up until the early hours of the morning to watch the game, after it was delayed due to bad weather.
The football-loving Prime Minister hailed the game as ‘one of the best England performances I’ve ever seen’.
Advert
And it seems he is now seriously considering introducing an extra bank holiday if the Three Lions manage to win the competition.
When asked about a potential bank holiday, he told reporters: “Let's see what happens if we get there, but on the question of a bank holiday, I think I don't want to jinx it, but ask me again if we get to the final.”
With the final taking place on a Sunday 19 July, it is thought the following Friday has been earmarked as the most likely date for a celebratory bank holiday, the Press Association reports.
Scotland has already had an extra bank holiday to mark the side’s qualification into the competition.
King Charles approved the extra bank holiday for Monday 15 June, with Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney saying it would ‘allow people, businesses and other organisations in Scotland to celebrate after the team’s opening game against Haiti’.
Ministers have so far rejected calls for an additional bank holiday for England.
One had been suggested for Monday (6 July), so that England fans would be able to stay up for the 1am BST kick-off, which eventually got pushed back to 2am, meaning the game ended around 4am; but he did change the rules to allow pubs to stay open later.
An extra day off was also rejected when the Lionesses won the Euros in 2022.
However, according to the Daily Mail, government sources have said that Starmer believes an England World Cup win - the first in 60 years - should be marked by an additional bank holiday.
Ahead of this weekend’s game against Norway, Starmer joked with reporters that while he and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store are usually close pals, the pair will be rivals for 90 minutes.
He told reporters: “I’m a good friend of his.
“The Norway-UK relationship is as strong as it’s ever been, and he’s a key individual in the coalitions that we’ve been building.
“But for 90 minutes on Saturday evening, we’ll have to go our different ways as we go into that match.”
Starmer also revealed that he had resisted calls to attempt to overturn Jarell Quansah’s red card against Mexico, after Donald Trump persuaded FIFA to suspend US player Folarin Balogun’s suspension to allow him to play against Belgium.
He said: “I can’t tell you how many messages I’ve had to rescind the red card that we received in the early hours of Monday.
“I hasten to add, I haven’t attempted to do that.”
Topics: World Cup
Claire Reid