Cheer for England - the nationalists won't like it

England is approaching victory in the Euros. Almost certainly beating the expectations of just about everyone, the team has managed to reach the finals for the first time in decades. Many in England are gripped by what could be the biggest footballing victory for the English team in their lives. 

And yet in some corners of our political discourse, there is concern. There is a worry that this victory would act as some kind of vindication for nationalist populism. In the context of the UK's recent exit from the EU, there is a belief that opportunists will connect the two, attach this moment of national glory to their particular political project and bind them in the public imagination. The fear is that it would become totemic of the idea that England is better off alone and instill an instinctive anti-European sentiment for a generation. 

The response to this is clear: we must not jump at shadows. 

Let us say that England does win the final and that certain opportunistic politicians and campaigns try to tie it into Brexit. The argument would obviously be ridiculous. There is, without a shadow of a doubt, no connection whatsoever between the two. Why, then, would we treat the idea of such a connection becoming embedded in the national psyche as an inevitability? It's not unlikely that the average person would find the suggestion ridiculous anyway and can quite easily separate the two. At most, we could indulge the idea that there is a risk that this event will be twisted and drawn into a nationalist narrative. But if that risk exists and it is no more than a risk, then why would we give up without a fight? Why would we simply hand over that narrative without building any alternative? 

We must look at this for what it is. A trap.

Football has not always been known as a bastion of progressive ideals. But without a doubt, this team is one of the most overtly progressive there has been in quite some time. And the decision to take the knee before every match (a form of peaceful protest recently launched in the sporting world as part of the Black Lives Matter movement) has infuriated a whole range of hard-right populists. 

Early on in the competition, they were more than eager to push the narrative of a failing team, overtaken by 'woke' ideas and disconnected from the fans who were booing the gesture. The people who style themselves as great heroes of the nation took it as a given that England would be quickly knocked out - betting on England's failure was a safe bet in their eyes. Other supposed patriots did little more than stand by and watch, doing nothing to defend the national team. 

Since then, they have been forced into embarrassing u-turns, trying to pretend that of course they always supported the team and always wanted them to win. Their predictions that a proud expression of progressive values would automatically and deservedly lead to failure have been quietly put aside without further comment. 

If we can bear to use a footballing metaphor, we are now into extra time when it comes to defining what this moment means for England. And for once in England's record of culture wars, it is the progressives who hold the lead. 

Before the final whistle blows, it is crucial that people do not get cold feet. There is nothing to be gained in (implicitly or explicitly) hoping that the England team will lose. To now start to imagine fears of a post-victory nationalist wave is the kind of mentality that leads to teams conceding goals at the last minute. Even if there is some justification or basis to that fear, it will not be overcome by turning against the national team - indeed such a response would only be used to confirm the worst stereotypes of progressives and to hand the initiative back to the nationalists and the populists.

In truth, footballing success for England is not something moderates and progressives have any need to fear. Nationalism is not an ideology of victory. It is an ideology of defeat. It is built on loss - loss which, in repetition, leads to a feeling of humiliation and, from there, towards a resentment of those who are held up as responsible for this humiliation. 

Most people do not believe that we are the best at everything. Winning a football competition will not give them that belief. But they do want to feel that we get what we deserve, that we are able to get something more than one bitter defeat after another. It's not just football - when people react angrily to our Eurovision defeats, it is this same feeling that we shouldn't be losing so badly (which likely hit a new record in the last competition). And, in the political arena, Brexit was not won through a series of triumphs but through a belief that we were subjected to a series of defeats. 

To that extent, many will already be happy that we have reached the finals of the Euros. A loss here would be honourable and dignified, not humiliating. 

And if we win? If we win then let's celebrate. And let's hope for another good performance next time, and then another and then another. The best world for a progressive and forward-looking England is one in which success (whether outright victory or not) is simply part of what we expect and not some mythical land. 

The nationalists are not mighty giants, they make foolish mistakes which expose the fake nature of their supposed patriotism and how out of touch they are. Don't hand this game back to them.