Labour’s shadow culture secretary has been blasted after claiming Rule Britannia is ‘alienating’ to many Britons.
Thangam Debbonaire said she welcomed a “good debate” about it being performed at the Last Night of the Proms, but insisted it’s up to the BBC to decide.
The controversial opinion about one of the country’s most popular patriotic pieces was blasted by Lee Anderson this afternoon, who said it’s the Labour Party who are ‘alienating’ voters.
Ms Debbonaire’s comments come after cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason said the song should be axed from the flagship concert as it makes “a lot of people” feel “uncomfortable”.
The top Labour politician backed her opinion, telling the Spectator: “It’s not my favourite bit of music. And the Proms is a fantastic institution and it’s the world’s greatest music festival”.
“I think it’s a decision for the people who run the Proms and again, like I said, it shouldn’t be politicians who tell people how to run cultural events.
“I think for a lot of people that feels like a very sort of British moment, which I think has to be respected as well, but for a lot of people, as Sheku Kenneh-Mason said, it will feel alienating.
“As I want the Proms – I want culture – to be accessible to everyone, I think it’s a good debate for us to be having.”
Responding to Ms Debbonaire’s words, Lee Anderson fumed: “It’s not Rule Britannia that alienates lots of Britains, that accolade goes to the Labour Party.
“The same Labour Party that will systematically give away our country at every opportunity. It is incumbent of all of us to wake up to the threat of Labour.”
The suspended Tory MP warned: “It’s terrifying”.
Red Wall MP Brendan Clarke-Smith added that Labour’s view of the tune is “nonsense”.
He added: “It’s a brilliant song and one everybody can enjoy”.
Tory Party deputy chairman Jack Lopresti accused Labour of being “happy to run roughshod over our national traditions”.
He added: “After all, this is the same party whose leader says his favourite piece of classical music was the EU’s anthem, Ode to Joy.”
In November, Sir Keir Starmer told Classic FM that the Remainer piece “sums up the Labour Party”.
The EU chose the piece to honour shared European values, as it represents “the ideals of freedom, peace and solidarity”.
Sir Keir added that the tune has a “sense of destiny and is hugely optimistic… it’s that sense of moving forward to a better place, is incredibly powerful”.
