Lionesses make us proud to be English – perhaps for the last time
The Lionesses’ inspiring Euros victory will be a moment of joy in a summer threatening to descend into civil unrest, tensions over immigration, public sector strikes and political fragmentation that will damage social cohesion, says Alys Denby
I watched the Euros final in a converted industrial estate in south east London – and the biggest cheer of the afternoon came in the 71st minute, for Michelle Agyemang. Our local MP, Miatta Fahbulleh, tweeted “girls in Peckham saw people like them on the pitch”. Sport is always a mirror reflecting a nation back at itself – and what a fine picture of England the Lionesses project. Their camaraderie, their determination, their diversity, the grace they showed their defeated opponents – it’s Kipling-worthy stuff.
But looking ahead, it’s the words of another poet that come to mind: never such innocence again. Tomorrow’s victory parade in Trafalgar Square will be a joyful moment for the country, but England is ill at ease.
As Leah Williamson lifted the trophy in Basel, a dispersal order was in place in Epping to prevent violence. The restrictions have been placed on protests centring on a hotel housing asylum seekers, one of whom has been charged with sexually assaulting a schoolgirl just days after arriving in the UK. Hundreds of police officers have been deployed in an effort to prevent a repeat of the riots that erupted across the country last summer. Nigel Farage has warned of mass civil disobedience. And tensions around migration are not going anywhere, with as many as 85,000 people expected to cross the Channel illegally this year.
Meanwhile the resident doctors’ reckless and greedy strikes look set to metastasise to other areas of the public sector. The Royal College of Nursing – traditionally one of the unions more reluctant to call for industrial action – is expected to reject a 3.6 per cent pay offer. Ambulance drivers and other hospital staff in the GMB union are also considering walking out. But when their colleagues who are already better paid won’t settle for a much more generous deal, who can blame them? The government has brought this on itself by ignoring another of Kipling’s axioms: once you’ve paid the Dane-geld, you never get rid of the Dane.
But Labour’s problems don’t stop there. A party that’s achieved a factional split between its only two adherents may not seem like much of a threat. But Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s new venture – whatever it’s called – only needs a few votes to unseat big beasts like Wes Streeting and Jess Phillips in constituencies with large Muslim blocs.
We are set for a summer of discontent which will damage what remains of community cohesion. After this, we will still be able to say, as Chloe Kelly did with such sincerity, “I’m so proud to be English”?