East Lancashire MP Jake Berry has demanded sports manufacturer Nike and the FA make a change to the new England national football team shirt.

The Rossendale and Darwen Conservative MP went on a rant on his Talk TV show about the new shirt, which features the St George Cross on its collar with a different colour scheme to the usual red and white.

Nike has altered the cross, using purple and blue horizontal stripes in what it said was a nod to training kit worn by the 1966 FIFA World Cup winning team, and a “playful update” ahead of Euro 2024.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer have both also publicly called on Nike to change the colour scheme.

Lancashire Telegraph: Jake Berry, MP for Rossendale and DarwenJake Berry, MP for Rossendale and Darwen (Image: UK Parliament)

In an impassioned rant on his television programme, Mr Berry said: “No one wants it!

“FA, if you’re watching, no one wants this, change it back.

“If you’re an England fan you just want the England flag on the England kit, it is a low bar.

“Just leave the flag alone, it’s an insult to our nation.”

Posting the clip on X, Mr Berry called it “wokeness gone mad”. In response to his tweet, other users told him to “grow up”, pointed out previous kits have not featured the England flag, and another asked if he did not have “proper MP work to be doing”.

England legend John Barnes said he thought the issue was a non-event, saying: “If they were going to change the three lions then that’s a debate to be had.

“I don’t see what the fuss is. I think it’s a much ado about nothing.

“They are not changing the colour of the shirt, the lions are still there. If they were going to change the national flag for England and change the colours, then that’s a proper debate to have.”

Rishi Sunak said of the flag design: “Obviously I prefer the original, and my general view is that when it comes to our national flags, we shouldn’t mess with them.

“Because they are a source of pride, identity, who we are, and they’re perfect as they are.”

Keir Starmer added: “I’m a big football fan, I go to England games, men and women’s games, and the flag is used by everybody.

 It is a unifier. It doesn’t need to be changed. We just need to be proud of it.

“So, I think they should just reconsider this and change it back. I’m not even sure they can properly explain why they thought they needed to change it in the first place.”

The new kits will be worn by the male, female and disability teams.

In launching them, Nike said: “The home kit is a modern take on a classic white strip.

“The trim on the cuffs takes its cues from the training gear worn by England legends of the past, in a bold purple colour that remixes reds and blues of the past.”

England winger Bukayo Saka said of the shirt: “It is unbelievable. I think this is the best kit we are going to wear and that I will have worn.

“It has a classic look and the collar is top. It is ten out of ten.”

Midfielder Declan Rice added: “This kit is a ten, a classic. It is proper retro; it feels like the 1966 kit.”

Former Blackburn Rovers midfielder Ella Toone also gave her approval to the kit, saying she loved it.

The FA said it was “very proud” of the red and white St George’s Cross but gave its support to the new design.

“The new England 2024 home kit has a number of design elements which were meant as a tribute to the 1966 World Cup-winning team,” a spokesperson said.

“The coloured trim on the cuffs is inspired by the training gear worn by England’s 1966 heroes, and the same colours also feature on the design on the back of the collar.

"It is not the first time that different coloured St George’s Cross-inspired designs have been used on England shirts.

“We are very proud of the red and white St George’s cross – the England flag.

"We understand what it means to our fans, and how it unites and inspires, and it will be displayed prominently at Wembley tomorrow – as it always is – when England play Brazil.”