Keir Starmer jokes Southgate’s England haven’t missed a penalty under a Labour government

The Labour leader, who is a keen football fan and Arsenal supporter, was asked about the vital England-Netherlands clash by reporters travelling with him to the Nato summit in Washington DC

Sir Keir Starmer (left) with MP Liam Byrne, playing football during a visit to Walsall football club (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

Sir Keir Starmer joked that Englandhas not missed a penalty while he’s been prime minister ahead of Wednesday night’s Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands.

The Labour leader, who is a keen football fan and Arsenal supporter, was asked about the vital clash by reporters travelling with him to the Nato summit in Washington DC.

Sir Keir said he would be reliant on officials to update him on the score as he takes part in his first major foreign trip as prime minister.

He said: “I’ve no doubt we’ll be passed lots of notes with really important information about the summit, and one or two of those notes hopefully will be an update on the score, because I’m not going to be able to get it otherwise.”

After last week’s landslide election victory, Sir Keir said his advice to Southgate on leading a team to success was: “Win!”

He added: “But, look, I’ve sent a message to the team, obviously I wish them well, I want them to win, and let’s hope they can do it.”

Referencing England’s win over Switzerland where the players slotted home all five of their penalties, he joked: “I’d remind you, England have not missed a penalty under a Labour government in 2024.”

Sir Keir Starmer talks to journalists as he travels on board a plane to Washington (PA Wire)

Arsenal fan Sir Keir praised his team’s winger Bukayo Saka who scored the equaliser against Switzerland in the quarter-final to take it to a penalty shootout, with England emerging victorious.

“That was classic Bukayo – cuts in from the right and that shot is absolutely classic – inside of the post – I’ve seen it so many times,” Sir Keir told reporters travelling with him to Washington.

Last week Mr Southgate was previously asked if he had any advice for Sir Keir and who he thought had the tougher of the two jobs,

He replied: “Well, I’m not envious of his job. No, I don’t have any advice.

“I think when you’re in a position of responsibility, as I am, you realise that advice comes from every direction.

“Everybody has a simple solution to complex problems, so I’m sure he’s going to be inundated with that sort of feel.

“Yeah, having been in the role I have, the one thing I would do is not be offering any additional issues for him by speaking publicly about anything, so I wish him well.”

England will take on the Netherlands in the second semi-final, which is being held 8pm on Wednesday night in Dortmund. Spain have already progressed to the final after beating France 2-1 on Tuesday evening.