A petition to Parliament for Monday 12 July to be declared a bank holiday has now reached over 300,000 signatures.
With England facing Italy at Wembley in Sunday’s Euro 2020 final, fans are piling the pressure on Boris Johnson for a day off to celebrate or commiserate the day after the anticipated match, which sees the host nation in a major tournament final since 1966.
England vs Italy kicks off at 8pm on Sunday. The match will finish at 9.45pm at the earliest, but could continue much later if it hits extra time and penalties.
The petition, hosted on the parliament website, states:
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. 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.
Petitions getting over 100,000 signatures are discussed for debate in parliament.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister responded by saying: “I don’t want to pre-empt the outcome of Sunday’s match. Clearly we want England to go all the way and win the final, and then we will set out our plans in due course.”
Boris has also commented on the prospect of a bank holiday on Monday. While attending an opening ceremony at energy company Bulb’s headquarters on Thursday, he said: “I think that would be tempting fate; let’s see what happens.”