Call for holiday if England win World Cup

Prime Minister Tony Blair was today being urged to declare a public holiday if England reach the World Cup final.

Former sports minister Tony Banks wants the whole country to be given the day off on the Monday after the final, to allow football fans to celebrate after the match - or drown their sorrows - without having to worry about getting up for work.

And he wants the holiday to be offered to the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish as well as the English, despite the tradition of antipathy towards the England team north of the border.

Mr Banks yesterday tabled a House of Commons motion congratulating Sven Goran Eriksson's team on their success in reaching the quarter-finals and calling on Mr Blair to declare that July 1 will be a holiday if England make it to the final a week on Sunday.

He hopes to catch the eye of the Speaker to put the plan directly to Mr Blair at Prime Minister's Questions today.

Mr Banks told PA News: "I think that, given the fact that the President of Senegal gave a public holiday for that country getting into the quarter-finals, a holiday for reaching the final is not too much to ask.

"It seems to me we will all either be celebrating or commiserating ourselves into the early hours that night, and it would be good for everyone to know they have the day off in the morning.

"A lot of people have already contacted me saying they are finding it difficult to get time off work for England's match with Brazil on Friday, some of whom say they have been threatened with the sack."

Mr Blair should declare the holiday in advance of the match, as it will be too late to do anything once it has taken place, said Mr Banks.

He said he was sure Scottish, Welsh and Irish soccer fans would want to share in England's celebrations, and has secured the backing of five Scottish MPs for his early-day motion, which will not be debated in Parliament.

Workers should wait a while before making plans for July 1, though.

The extra day's holiday depends not only on Mr Banks' plan gaining approval from the Prime Minister, but on England vanquishing World Cup favourites Brazil on Friday and then defeating either Turkey or Senegal in next Wednesday's semi-final.

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