PM Rishi Sunak has left football fans scratching their heads after he posted a baffling congratulatory message to England’s Lionesses on X, formerly Twitter.
The PM, who was reportedly tweeting from his local in his Yorkshire constituency where he watched the game, stated that England’s Lionesses had left “absolutely nothing out there” during their 1-0 defeat to Spain in yesterday’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Final.
It’s more traditional in the football cliché lexicon to urge players to give “everything” out there, while leaving “nothing” in the dressing room, and commentators were quick to pick up on the gaffe.
Labour’s Wallasey MP Angela Eagle was among those to spot the gaffe, correcting Sunak’s command of footballing terms:
Along with Newsagent Jon Sopel:
LBC presenter Shelagh Fogerty riffed that the Tweet had perhaps been “written by a 16-year-old” special adviser, meanwhile.
Millionaire Sunak has frequently been accused of being out of touch with the general population, a fact that didn’t escape his detractors, while others raised the worrying prospect of a PM and former chancellor not knowing the difference between “everything” and “nothing”:
Sunak wasn’t entirely without his supporters, and some did point to a historic use, albeit in a tennis context, when Andy Murray had said: “Give it everything you’ve got, leave nothing out there.” They were in a minority, however, although the PM wasn’t short of kindly offers of help with his future social media endeavours:
