Boris Johnson’s England video will scar you for life

Boris Johnson holding an England flag and a cat vomiting


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Boris Johnson’s latest video about England’s Euro 2020 journey is short and to the point – to the point of making you feel nauseous, that is. But it also hints at a broader issue in our society.

Johnson: England flag-shagger-in-chief

The PM has once more indulged in nationalistic flag-shaggery over the England team’s performance in the Euros. As many people prepare to watch them take on Italy in the final on Sunday 11 July, Johnson made his own contribution to the nation’s excitement. It was enough to put you off football (and the English flag) for life.

Johnson spouted:

Best of luck to England tonight. It’s been an incredible journey so far. But we’re all hoping you can go one better and bring it home tonight.

Of course, much of Twitter wasn’t having any of Johnson’s bandwagon-jumping bullshit.

As several users pointed out, Johnson initially didn’t call out fans who booed the team when some of them took the knee. Nor did he endorse the players’ stand against racism:

Meanwhile Barbara thought Johnson may be trying to distract us from other issues:

Others questioned whether the PM was really a footie fan, while doing some neat photoshopping:

One person made a point about the cost of Johnson’s flag-shaggery:

Former Labour Party general secretary Jennie Formby cut through the bluster of football. She highlighted that:

An inflatable ball: uniting us more than dead disabled people ever could

Rachael Swindon also pointed to another, broader point about the Euros:

This is the bittersweet reality of national pride in football. The establishment pushes the narrative that the country is all behind the England team. For many of us, it is a source of pride, excitement, and pleasure. A lot of the time, the country does appear to rally behind a unifying cause in football. But it’s a shame that that’s all we tend to unite over.

Tory policy killing sick and disabled people in their tens of thousands; homelessness skyrocketing; millions of children going hungry; over 150,000 possibly preventable deaths from coronavirus; and older people not being able to heat their homes in winter. The list of things that should unify us as a society goes on and on. Yet, none of it ever cuts through.

If we could channel that common passion for football into changing society for the better, then maybe many of the issues that blight England, and the rest of the world, could be solved. Sadly, unless there’s a ball and a flag involved, that seems unlikely to happen.

Featured image via BeanymanNews – YouTube and Listed  – YouTube

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