Keir Starmer understands this England team in a way Boris Johnson never could

Tory politicians naturally want to hug the England team close but some are clearly uncomfortable about its off-the-pitch stance

“Can you explain to me the difference between a yellow and red card?” the cabinet minister asked me. My zeitgeist briefing for the senior Labour figure didn’t save him for long: he was rumbled when the media asked him to name some of his local team.

Politicians are briefed by anxious aides on the price of a pint of milk but the beautiful game is more complicated. Rule one for politicians is: don’t be a fake fan, because real ones can spot you a mile off. Understandably, Boris Johnson jumped on the Euro 2020 bandwagon with characteristic enthusiasm. But the cricket fan rather gave the game away by wearing his England shirt over his work shirt and tie at the semi-final.

Johnson would have benefited from a “feelgood factor” if England had won the trophy. It might even have given the economy a timely mini-boost as the UK eases coronavirus restrictions. Instead, sadly, there is a “feel proud factor” after the team’s brilliant run, which will hopefully continue to unite the nation, even in the agony of defeat.

I warmed to Gareth Southgate and his players like no other England team since I nervously watched the 1966 World Cup final on television as a nine-year-old. I can’t claim to have been an ardent England fan since; I have been to one England game, and to about 1,500 matches involving my team Spurs. But today’s England team is different.

Keir Starmer, a real rather than a plastic fan, got it right when he said: “On and off the pitch, this team is the very best of our country. They’ve done us proud.” In contrast, Johnson conspicuously steered clear of England’s off-the-field achievements. The team has become a powerful symbol of a modern, inclusive, diverse country which stands against inequality of all kinds. Their decision to take the knee has been totally vindicated by the idiotic online abuse hurled at the three black players who did not score their penalties – Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka. Although Johnson rightly condemned it, the government and social-media companies will doubtless again stop short of taking the action needed to stamp it out.

Tory politicians naturally want to hug the England team close but some are clearly uncomfortable about its off-the-pitch stance. Revealingly, Johnson hesitated over whether to support the minority of spectators who booed when the players took the knee, before saying they should cheer the team.

As the Migration Museum pointed out, seven of England’s starting line-up against Italy have parents or grandparents born overseas. But rather than celebrate a multiracial team that has won widespread support among ethnic minorities, Priti Patel, the home secretary, dismissed taking the knee as “gesture politics” before jumping on the bandwagon and putting on an England shirt when the team did well.

Lee Anderson, a Tory backbencher, deserved the ridicule he got at Westminster for boycotting his “beloved” team for the first time because of the knee gesture and then following the final on his phone. He chose not to understand that the act was a statement of values, not support for a political programme.

Labour is in tune with those values but also has lessons to learn from Euro 2020. It is possible to have a vision of progressive patriotism without mimicking the divisive nationalism and culture wars favoured for party political reasons by some senior Tories, and often encouraged by Downing Street. Hopefully, those on the left who feel queasy about Starmer wrapping himself in the flag to make a patriotic pitch to the country will look back on Euro 2020 as the moment when the flag was reclaimed from the far right.

Although the afterglow from the 2012 London Olympics faded, Euro 2020 feels bigger, even though England suffered a “brilliant defeat”, as Labour described its electoral setbacks in the 1980s. The “years of hurt” continue – until next year’s World Cup, at least – but there are plenty of positives from Euro 2020, on and off the pitch. Let’s hope our politicians, led by Johnson, ensure they last.