Carsley must ‘zone out of his Irish Republicanism and sing national anthem’, says Rees-Mogg

Former MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has urged England’s interim manager Lee Carsley to “zone out of his Irish Republicanism” and sing God Save the King following his national anthem controversy.

Carsley, who took charge of his first match as England manager last week against the Republic of Ireland, the team he represented during his international career, sparked uproar when he refused to sing the national anthem.

The Birmingham-born ex-professional explained that he has not sung the Irish national anthem during his playing days and had already made the decision to do the same when God Save the King was played before any England game – having also not sung when coaching the Under-21 national side.

However, it provoked a huge backlash among England fans, many of whom believe that not only should the national anthem be sung by any coach of the national team but that the position should also be filled by an English manager.

Rees-Mogg is the latest to criticise Carsley for his standpoint ahead of the 50-year-old coach’s first game in charge at Wembley, where all eyes are likely to be on him before kick-off once more.

“Sinn Fein MPs cannot take their seats in Parliament because they will not take an oath to the Crown,” Rees-Mogg told GB News.

“They do not accept the legitimacy of the constitutional settlement. Wanting to change it by democratic means is perfectly reasonable, and free speech must, of course, be upheld.

“The same principle applies to England football managers. They must support the nation whose team they seek to lead, even if they themselves are foreign.

“Singing the national anthem is a symbol of this, and if they will not accept the symbol, they should not hold the post.

“This applies to Lee Carsley, who needs to zone out of his Irish Republicanism and learn to sing God save the King.

“Otherwise, no one will believe he cares about the England team he wishes to lead.”

Carsley’s position is not helped by the fact that the late former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, the first foreigner to lead the national side, chose to sing the national anthem, although both Fabio Capello and current England Women’s manager Sarina Wiegman have not.

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When asked last week ahead of the match in Dublin, which England won 2-0, whether he would sing God Save the King, Carsley said: “This is something that I always struggled with when I was playing for Ireland. The gap between your warm-up, your coming on to the pitch and the delay with the anthems. So it’s something that I have never done.

“I was always really focused on the game and my first actions of the game. I really found that in that period I was wary about my mind wandering off. I was really focused on the football and I have taken that into coaching.

“We had the national anthem with the Under-21s also and I am in a zone at that point. I am thinking about how the opposition are going to set up and our first actions within the game. I fully respect both anthems and understand how much they mean to both countries. It’s something I am really respectful of.”

Asked to confirm if he ever sings the anthem, Carsley added: “No [I don’t].”