Labour leader Ed Miliband says Scots should forget traditional rivalries and support England in the European Championships.
As the high-profile football tournament kicks off in Poland today, Mr Miliband said the English national team ”needs as many supporters as it can get”.
The light-hearted comments came on Thursday as the Labour leader made a major speech aimed at arguing the case for the United Kingdom.
At London’s Royal Festival Hall, he said sporting and jubilee events are a chance to celebrate the union and national identities.
He said Labour had been reluctant in the past to talk about English identity, amid fears it would undermine the Union but also because of nervousness over the far right’s associations with English nationalism.
Turning to the referendum on Scottish independence planned for autumn 2014, he said it is important all the nations of the UK consider the questions raised.
”We are stronger together as a United Kingdom and that essential strength comes from our ability to embrace multiple identities,” he insisted.
”The nationalist case, wherever we find it, is based on the fallacy that one identity necessarily erodes another.
”I believe we can all be proud of our country, the United Kingdom. And of the nations that comprise it that means England too.”
He said the Union Flag had been reclaimed, and Euro 96 reclaimed the English flag, but there is still ”nervousness” and polling shows some people still associate the Cross of St George with racism.
”That’s not my view. I think we should be proud of the flag of St George.”
Mr Miliband also said First Minister Alex Salmond is offering Scots a ”false choice” between being Scottish and British when, in reality, they are both.
”We prosper and suffer together. And it’s not just about the present it’s about the future as well.”
Asked about his hope that Scots will back England in Euro 2012, Mr Miliband said: ”Should Scots support England? Yes, is the answer. I think England needs as many supporters as it can get in these European Championships!
”So I would obviously urge them to do so, but I don’t think it makes them un-British if they don’t support England.”
SNP MSP Humza Yousaf criticised the speech, saying: ”The fact is, the current UK constitutional arrangements are unsuitable for Scotland, and unfair for England.
”What Mr Miliband desires for England can only be delivered by Scottish independence, giving both nations a new relationship based around a partnership of equals, bound by a social union of our shared history and culture.”