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Euro 2020

09th Jul 2021

Boris Johnson calls for employers to give workers time off on Monday if England win Euros

Kieran Galpin

But who will serve the Karen’s?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged employers to give their staff time off if England successfully beat Italy in Sunday’s game. England will face off against Italy in the first final they have reached in 55 years.

With England’s controversial defeat of Denmark on Wednesday night, calls for a bank holiday were quickly brought up in conversation. Reports from POLITICO said that members of Whitehall were toying with the idea, but it did face logistical difficulties with the match being only days away.

https://twitter.com/PoliticsForAlI/status/1413024643934478338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1413024643934478338%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fsport%2Fgovernment-reportedly-considering-extra-bank-holiday-if-england-win-2020-279659

A civilian made petition entitled “Give the UK a Bank Holiday on Monday, July 12th if England wins Euro 2020,” quickly surfaced online, and the description read:

“England may be playing a European Championship Final at 8pm on Sunday 11th July. It would be beneficial and sensible to give the country the day off the next day if England win, in the form of an extra Bank Holiday Monday.”

The Independent reports that when asked whether Monday would be a bank holiday, the spokesperson responded, “The prime minister was asked that and he said it would be tempting fate and he wants to see what happens on Sunday, and I think that is the right approach.”

However, when asked what employers should consider, the PM said: “We would want businesses who feel able to consider it, if they can, but we recognise it will vary depending on the business and company.”

https://twitter.com/PoliticsForAlI/status/1413249596353097730

However, a parliamentary petition has also been released and has earned over 300k signatures. The petition reads:

“It would be beneficial and sensible to give the country the day off the next day if England win, in the form of an extra Bank Holiday Monday.

“Sunday 8pm is a difficult time for families to plan to be together for the event – knowing we have an additional day off the next day would significantly help this.

https://twitter.com/chrisjbarlow/status/1413413453977591812

“Furthermore, a historic win should be celebrated. It would be expected for the winning team to parade the trophy, and a Bank Holiday would be a perfect time to do this.

“Also, English people would naturally want to continue to enjoy the win, giving the retail and leisure industry a much-needed opportunity to make up lost revenues.”

The petition makes a good case for the day-off work, but any solid plans are yet to be revealed.