The BBC has been criticised (rightly so) for teaming up with the Arts Council to come up with an English "national anthem" which could be used instead of our current national anthem.
The song is "intended to reflect English customs, ideas and creativity in contemporary times" and will make its debut on St George's Day.
There are several perfectly good songs which would be ideal for an English anthem - "I Vow to Thee my Country", "Rule Britannia" and "Land of Hope and Glory" are songs which can inspire national pride and which are known and loved by English people.
However, I am forgetting something - the songs I have just mentioned are associated with "flag waving patriotism", the kind of patriotism which is regarded as offensive to ethnic minorities, the same people we must now consider above all of us. We mustn't consider anything which might not be liked by a certain section of society, even though this particular section of society is free to carry out whatever they wish, whether or not it offends the majority of us.
We should have an anthem which makes us feel proud, which rouses the spirit and, above all, is not just created so as to appeal to minority groups in our society.
More on the anthem here.
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