Boris Johnson and Alister Jack raise Rangers and Europa League final in Westminster
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Scottish Secretary Alister Jack brought up Rangers in Westminster ahead of the Europa League final.
The Gers face Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville on Wednesday night (18 May) hoping to lift their first European trophy since the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972.
And ahead of the match they were sent encouragement from politicians in the House of Commons around Prime Minister’s Questions.
In clips shared by Daily Record politics editor Peter Davidson on his Twitter account, first Jack includes a dig at political rivals, Labour’s Ian Murray and the SNP’s Ian Blackford, in his statement, saying: “Mr Speaker, that great British football club Rangers are in Seville tonight for the Europa League final.
“And I hope the whole House, including the member for Edinburgh South [Murray], an avid Hearts fan, and the member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber [Blackford], an avid Hibs fan, will join me in wishing them a famous victory.”
Johnson is then shown saying while concealing a laugh: “Mr Speaker, I know that members across the House will want to join me in offering our best wishes to Rangers for this evening’s match in Seville.”
Rivalry
It is fairly standard for politicians to wish British clubs well in European finals, and it is a measure of the achievement from Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his team that they have come up in this context.
Johnson has proven to not generally understand what is happening in football, as he was last noted suggesting Ukraine should be Euro 2028 host despite the UK and Ireland already having a joint bid.
As if rivalries among Scottish teams needed to be made any more heated, Jack bringing in the political element to wind up opposing parties is probably unwise.
Blackford is seen laughing along with the joke so things seemed relatively cordial inside the lower chamber.
If the Light Blues are able to finish the job in Seville then fans and politicians across various divides will surely be queuing up to congratulate the side on a huge achievement.
Even bitter rivals would have to grudgingly admit that the run to the final has already been very impressive.
But with multiple messages already sent out to encourage everyone involved to support the team in the right way, it would probably be helpful if members of the actual government weren’t trying to wind up opponents over potential European success.
In other Rangers news, a RangersTV pundit thinks one man who took his recent opportunity well was playing one of his last games for the club.