Keir Starmer speaks out on England manager Carsley refusing to sing the national anthem
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has given his views on England boss Lee Carsley deciding not to sing the national anthem in their victory over the Republic of Ireland.
Life after Gareth Southgate began in the Nations League second tier at a sold-out Aviva Stadium, where the 50-year-old took charge of his first match since being temporarily promoted to senior team coach from his role with the under-21s.
Carsley oversaw an impressive 2-0 win against the nation he played for 40 times as England’s caretaker manager parked the brouhaha about his decision not to sing God Save the King.
The former midfielder said on the eve of the Group B2 clash that he had never sung a national anthem as Republic player or England coach and would stick with that stance when the countries met on Saturday.
Asked about the reaction to his comments following Saturday’s win in Dublin, interim boss Carsley said: “It has definitely not affected my day or preparation.
“I found out about it this morning. I fully respect people’s opinions. It’s something that I’ve never done but I fully respect both national anthems.
“Today would be probably one of the proudest days of my career to lead an England team out in Dublin. You definitely couldn’t have written it.
“I don’t feel hard done by or aggrieved. I respect everyone’s opinion.
“I’ve played in teams out there where players are belting the anthem out next to me but also I’ve played in teams where players don’t sing, or coaches. I don’t think it makes me or anyone that doesn’t any less committed.
“Like I say, I was looking forward so much to today and it’s the proudest day of my football career. You couldn’t have written it, really.
“I saw the draw a while back and I thought to myself ‘that’s going to be a really good game’. Then if you fast forward and two weeks ago, it sinks in that ‘OK, yeah, I am going to take over the team – the first game’s in Dublin’.
“I knew it was going to be a good experience but a bit of a test also.”
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The Prime Minister was asked about his views on Carsley’s stance during his first official visit to the Republic of Ireland after a “fantastic reset of relations”.
Starmer said: “I will sing the national anthem and we are having a fantastic reset of relations between Ireland and the UK, but the Taoiseach and I have already agreed that for 90 minutes we will suspend the reset and put more energy into it afterwards because we will be cheering on different sides.
“So I will be singing the national anthem. What others do is really a matter for them.”
Asked then if he was not concerned about Carsley’s choice, the Prime Minister added: “I know what I will be doing and I will be singing it.
“I won’t just be singing it, I will be cheering the team on.”
Later in his press conference Carsley repeated that he fully respects everyone’s opinions and “would never judge anyone for singing or not”.
“I had a great experience when I played for the Republic of Ireland and I’m having a really good experience now in terms of the responsibility that I’ve got of being head coach interim for the senior team,” he said.
“You’ve got to accept that with that does come a bit of judgement. It is something I don’t feel hard done by. I respect everyone’s opinion and we move forward.”