‘Arise, Sir Harry?’: Keir Starmer expected to honour England stars if they win World Cup
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to bestow honors on the England men’s football team if the Three Lions win the World Cup.
Worker sources told Independent He said Sir Keir was keen to be the one to honor England’s men’s football stars, including a potential knighthood for captain Harry Kane and a major honor for star of the tournament Jude Bellingham.
Other notable players to celebrate, including Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, play for Sir Keir’s beloved Arsenal.
A senior Labor source said: Independent: “Keir will definitely not leave it to Andy Burnham to honor the England football team, he wants to do it himself.”
But such a move would represent a final U-turn for the outgoing prime minister, who has said he will not hand out a traditional resignation honors list when his premiership ends in 2023, following controversy over lists submitted by Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Sir Keir said at the time: “Tony Blair didn’t have a resignation list. It’s very difficult to justify that. There are other ways of doing that and I think it’s easier to be upfront about it and simply say no, I wouldn’t do that.”
During his time as Prime Minister, Sir Keir was plagued by damaging U-turns, including canceling winter fuel payments for pensioners, abandoning benefit cuts and agreeing to end the two-child benefit limit.
But he is a keen football fan and even joked at the last Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) when asked about his duties for the day that he had an important meeting with my television at 8pm when England faced Argentina in the final play-off.
If England reach the final on Sunday, Sir Keir’s final act as prime minister is expected to fly to New York to watch the match at the Metlife Stadium.
In recent weeks, Downing Street has not given a clear answer to the question of whether it would stick to its original plan not to hand out Sir Keir’s resignation honour.
Another Labor source said: “I think football has changed his mind.”
Downing Street did not comment when asked about the latest speculation. Independent.
Even if they fail to reach the final, key players can still be celebrated at the New Year’s awards, building on previous tournaments in which Kane and former manager Gareth Southgate were awarded MBEs after the team reached the semi-finals in 2018.
PMQs were full of references to the World Cup and MPs were paying tribute to Sir Keir as his two-year term as prime minister comes to an end.
Deputy Reform leader Richard Tice noted that England’s 76 per cent win rate was “the highest of any prime minister in history”.
Referring to England’s only World Cup victory in 1966, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: “We all hope Sir Keir will follow the example. [former Labour PM Harold Wilson] in other words, to be prime minister when England win the World Cup.”
Sir Keir pointed out that “England only won world cups under the Labor Party”. He has already announced that if England win on Sunday there will be a public holiday to mark the occasion.
