Britons should be able to define themselves as both black and English, according to senior MPs who are calling to broaden the range of ethnicity options in the census.

The cross-party push is a riposte to Reform UK politicians who have claimed that people from minority ethnic backgrounds cannot have English ethnic identity.

The Liberal Democrat president, Josh Babarinde, is launching the drive, with backing from the former deputy prime minister David Lammy, the former foreign secretary James Cleverly and other prominent MPs including the Conservative Mark Pritchard and the Lib Dem chair of the health select committee, Layla Moran.

The MPs say the current definition of Englishness on the census means 60% of England’s World Cup squad would not technically be classified as English on the census.

“I’m a proud Englishman and Englishness is about more than the colour of your skin,” Babarinde said. “Most people in this country already agree that you don’t have to be white to be English.…