Now Rishi Sunak wades into Nike row over St George’s Cross on England shirt

The PM said kit manufacturers should not mess’ with the St George’s Cross

Rishi Sunak has waded into the debate over Nike’s ‘playful update’ to the new England kit.

Nike has altered the cross using purple and blue horizontal stripes on the back of the shirt ahead of Euro 2024. The US firm said the colours were inspired by the training kit worn by England’s 1966 World Cup winners.

The PM said kit manufacturers “should not mess” with the St George’s Cross.

Former England winger John Barnes told the PA news agency the row over the flag was “much ado about nothing”, but Sunak said on Friday: “Obviously I prefer the original, and my general view is that when it comes to our national flags, we shouldn’t mess with them.

“Because they are a source of pride, identity, who we are, and they’re perfect as they are.”

SA design of the St George’s Cross is seen on the new England football shirt on display in the Wembley shop (Action Images via Reuters)

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called on Nike to reconsider, and told The Sun: “I’m a big football fan, I go to England games, men and women’s games, and the flag is used by everybody. It is a unifier. It doesn’t need to be changed. We just need to be proud of it.

“So, I think they should just reconsider this and change it back. I’m not even sure they can properly explain why they thought they needed to change it in the first place.”

Labour’s shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry also branded the changes to the shirt as “weird”.

In an interview with BBC Breakfast, she said: “I think the England flag is the England flag. Why has it got all these other colours in it?”

A petition on Change.org calling for a design change had already attracted more than 21,000 signatures by noon on Friday.

However, former national team star Barnes could not understand what all the fuss was about.

The changes were made ahead of Euro 2024 (Action Images via Reuters)

“I don’t get involved in culture wars any more but this whole furore…I didn’t even know there was a St George’s cross,” he said at a Forever Reds golf day ahead of the Liverpool Legends’ game against Ajax on Saturday, which is expected to raise over £1m for the LFC Foundation.

“If they were going to change the three lions then that’s a debate to be had. I don’t see what the fuss is. I think it’s a much ado about nothing.

“They are not changing the colour of the shirt, the lions are still there. If they were going to change the national flag for England and change the colours then that’s a proper debate to have.”

The kit pricing has also been criticised.

An “authentic” version costs £124.99 for adults and £119.99 for children while a “stadium” version is £84.99 and £64.99 for children.