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Should the country get a bank holiday if England or Scotland win the Euros? Poll of the week
Yahoo UK’s poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week’s hot topics. After 72 hours the poll closes and, each Friday, we’ll publish and analyse the results, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers.
It’s the perennial question when one of the Home Nations is playing in a major football tournament: will we get a bank holiday if we win?
With the England and Scotland men’s teams taking part in Euro 2024, which begins on Friday, politicians on the general election campaign trail are sure to be asked whether they would give people an extra day off should either team do well in the tournament.
Bank holidays come at a cost – a 2010 House of Commons library report estimated an additional day off would cost the economy £2.9bn – but when the England men’s team reached the Euro 2020 final, then-prime minister Boris Johnson was reportedly poised to declare a bank holiday if they won.
Ahead of the match, Downing Street was coy as to whether plans for a holiday were in motion behind the scenes. In the end, though, it didn’t matter as England lost to Italy on penalties.
But the question came up again last summer when England’s women’s team reached the World Cup final.
There had been calls from opposition politicians, including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, for a national day off in the Lionesses’ honour if they beat Spain in Sydney. This time, the government had a firmer response as culture secretary Lucy Frazer outright rejected it. In any case, England lost that game as well.
But what do you think this time round ahead of Euro 2024? Should there be a bank holiday in the event of an England or Scotland win? And will either team even get far enough to merit the conversation?
And how much do you even care about the Euros at all?
Come back on Friday to read the results and analysis.
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