Government plays it coy on possibility of emergency bank holiday

The UK government has remained tight-lipped on the possibility of an emergency bank holiday should England emerge victorious over Italy in the Euro 2020 final.

A petition calling for a bank holiday on Monday if things go England’s way has hit more than 250,000 signatures at the time of writing.

“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 petition reads.

“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.

Boris Johnson was asked about the likelihood during a visit to energy company Bulb’s central London headquarters on Thursday, saying: “I think that would be tempting fate; let’s see what happens.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “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.

“We will hopefully, when England go on to win, then go on to set out our plans.”

Downing Street has also urged employers to be flexible where possible in regards to people working on Monday.

Featured image credit: Getty