Sir Keir Starmer has hinted that an England World Cup victory could result in an additional bank holiday, ahead of a quarter-final showdown with Norway this weekend. The Prime Minister praised Monday's triumph over Mexico as "one of the best England performances I've ever seen", with a win against Norway bringing them closer to their first World Cup victory in 60 years.
Bank holiday for World Cup win
When pressed by journalists at Wednesday's Nato conference on whether he would support a bank holiday should England lift the trophy, he responded: "I don't want to jinx it, but ask me again if we get to the final." With the final scheduled for Sunday, July 19, it is understood that the following Friday has been identified as the most probable date for a celebratory bank holiday.
Light-hearted exchanges at Nato summit
During his attendance at the Nato summit in Ankara, Sir Keir engaged in light-hearted exchanges with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store, quipping that England only secure World Cup glory under a Labour government. 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."
Red card controversy
Sir Keir also confirmed he had resisted pressure to seek the overturning of Jarell Quansah's red card against Mexico, following Donald Trump's intervention with Fifa to suspend US player Folarin Balogun's suspension, permitting him to feature 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."
