No 10 brushes off calls for extra bank holiday to mark Lionesses' victory
The Lionesses defended their Euros title in a penalty shootout win over Spain in the final in Basel, Switzerland, on Sunday.
The Government had already indicated it was unlikely to heed calls for an extra bank holiday to herald England's success.
On Monday, the Prime Minister's official spokesman attempted to make light of calls for the additional day off work.
'If we had a bank holiday every time the Lionesses win we'd never go to work,' he told reporters.
He added: 'It is a tribute to the success of the Lionesses. The Prime Minister has said how inspiring their incredible victory was last night, and the team has captured the hearts of the nation.
'We look forward to joining the rest of the country celebrating this incredible win.'
The spokesman pointed to the plans for a parade and the Downing Street reception as part of the Government's efforts to ensure the team has a warm welcome on their return to the UK.
Bank holidays have a costly impact on the UK economy, and various governments have been reticent to introduce additional public holidays.
Analysis by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport estimated the cost of the additional bank holiday to mark Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee in June 2022 was £2.4 billion.
Elsewhere, the Prime Minister's spokesman insisted there was an independent process for nominations for honours, when asked about calls for the team to be recognised for their victory.
However, in a rare show of support from the Government for members of the team to receive nominations, he added: 'I hope we'll see lots of nominations for this incredible winning team.
'Many of them were honoured after their incredible Euros win just three years ago, and everyone can see what an amazing job Sarina (Wiegman) and the team have done for this country in terms of its historic win, and women's sport more generally.'
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner will host the Downing Street reception for the England team on Monday night.
Asked if Sir Keir Starmer was disappointed not to be at the event, his spokesman insisted the Prime Minister was 'obviously very pleased to be meeting President Trump up in Scotland'.
He added: 'I'm sure he (the Prime Minister) will have a chance to celebrate with them in the future as well.'
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23 minutes ago
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Ian Wright says he 'couldn't believe' Alessia Russo was taken off after scoring against Spain and feels Sarina Wiegman was 'very fortunate' to avoid a backlash as England went on to win the Euro 2025 final on penalties. For the third match on the bounce, the Lionesses were forced to come from behind after conceding to a Mariona Caldentey header midway through the first half in Basel. Just as they had done against both Sweden and Italy, the holders dug deep and managed to wrestle the momentum back in their favour, with Russo reacting brilliantly to nod home Chloe Kelly's pinpoint cross and level in the 57th minute. The two teams could not be separated after extra-time and it was England who eventually prevailed after another nerve-jangling shootout, with Kelly scoring the decisive spot-kick to seal a famous 3-1 win over the world champions. The Lionesses' latest triumph – which came at the end of a rollercoaster campaign – marked the first time in history that an English team had won a major tournament on foreign soil. It also further cemented Wiegman's legendary status as an international head coach. The 55-year-old first lifted the trophy with the Netherlands in 2017 before steering England to back-to-back titles over the last three years. Dissecting the final on the Crossways podcast, Wright was somewhat reluctant to criticise Wiegman considering just how far England had come since she took over the reins from Phil Neville. However, the iconic ex-Arsenal striker believes there were a couple of key decisions which could easily have gone against the England boss on another day. 'I've got to say, the Russo substitution is the most baffling thing I'll ever see if she's not injured. I could not believe it,' Wright said. 'Michelle [Agyemang] came on and, obviously, she's amazing, Young Player of the Tournament, only coming off the bench and doing enough to win, that was amazing on her part. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 'But I think she [Agyemang] needs Russo on there with her in this time. 'They would have caused Spain so many problems because Russo would have dropped off, she would have been in the box. 'What is Sarina doing taking her off?! What's she doing taking her off?! I couldn't believe it.' According to Wright, Wiegman has proven beyond doubt that she is a 'genius' and a 'legend' – but hauling Russo off with 20 minutes remaining made little sense in the context of the match. 'She was feeding off scraps,' Wright said of Russo. 'When you're playing in a game like that, all you're hoping for is one chance that you can try and take, which she did, and then you get a second wind. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 'When she went off you could see it. She's so sweet and she's saying thank you to everybody but you can see it in her mind, she must be thinking, 'What the f***'s going on?! What are you taking me off for?!' 'In the end, she's very fortunate. She's obviously shown she's a great coach with three European Championships on the spin. That's legendary. 'But some of the decisions… you're thinking to yourself, 'If that's what you're doing on purpose because you see the outcome in your head then you are a genius!', but she is a genius with what she's done.' Wright was similarly taken aback that Wiegman opted to 'gamble' on Lauren James' fitness when she had a player of Kelly's quality raring to go the start. 'With Lauren James, it's a Euros final. If she thinks, 'You know what? If I can get something out of myself I might be able to do it', then you're going to play,' he continued. 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