Penny Mordaunt gets into a Commons spat over comments about changes to England's football shirt
Preserving the England flag is “not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire”, Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt has said in a spat over England football shirts.
The comments came in response to criticism of her social media posts on Nike’s alteration of England football shirts - changing the colour of the St George’s Cross on the collar - from SNP Commons leader Deidre Brock. The Portsmouth North MP expressed her view that she preferred the original design - expressing support for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who said the same thing.
The SNP Commons criticised Mordaunt’s social media posts as “angry” and “outbursts”. She said: “Since we last met here for business questions the leader (Ms Mordaunt) has been keeping busy. One of her posts on ‘X’ during recess I thought was particularly eye-catching, it was unique because it asked constituents to contact her directly, so outraged was she by a burning injustice.
“Maybe that angry post was just a response to her constituents in Portsmouth who are furious just now right enough at the likely demolition of the brand new border control post in Portsmouth, amongst a herd of such white elephants around the UK, a direct result of her Government’s ongoing Brexit confusion that will cost a fortune.
“No, that wasn’t what prompted these outbursts. The Leader and many of her colleagues were furious about England’s new football top. Damn right they were. So, no, the fuss of the doomed border post on her doorstep hasn’t figured in the very busy social media output we see from her.”
Ms Brock concluded by asking for an urgent debate on Brexit charges, adding: “(Ms Mordaunt’s) constituents will be interested to hear an answer, ideally before she wastes more time launching into another anti-Scotland video script.”
In response Ms Mordaunt said: “I should thank (Ms Brock) for concern about Portsmouth port, which is doing very well.”
She added: “I’m always keen to facilitate my constituents who wish to make complaints to all sorts of organisations in the ability to do that, but I would just say to (Ms Brock) that our nation’s flag is very important to the people of Portsmouth, and I would suggest that she might like to think twice before she mocks that view.
“These things and traditions are important, they are not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire. (Ms Brock) has been busy too over recess, penning articles about how much I and my colleagues hate Scotland and Scottish people. She’s done it again in her opening remarks and her questions to me.
“At some point she will have to say why that is the case. I know that the Scottish rugby team has been doing very well against England, but this is not grounds, I think, to justify her accusations against me.”