Sunak backs singing of Rule, Britannia!

RISHI SUNAK has backed the performance of Rule, Britannia! at the Last Night of the Proms as he dismissed fresh calls for it to be axed.

Downing Street said the Prime Minister “does enjoy tradition” and was “very comfortable” with customs including the patriotic anthem.

Sheku Kanneh-mason, a cellist who performed at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, called for Rule Britannia! to be scrapped last weekend as he claimed people “don’t realise how uncomfortable a song like that can make a lot of people feel”.

The BBC faced a backlash in 2020 after announcing a plan to perform the Thomas Arne composition without any lyrics, a decision that was reversed just days later when Tim Davie became the corporation’s director-general.

Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister who was the culture secretary at the time, condemned the BBC’S “cringing embarrassment about our history”, with ministers welcoming the about-turn.

Asked whether the Prime Minister believes the song should continue to be played at the Proms, his press secretary said: “He does enjoy tradition, yes.”

Pushed to confirm whether Mr Sunak wanted the song to remain a part of the annual event, Mr Sunak’s press secretary responded: “Yeah, I think he’s a man that… He’s very modern, but he’s also comfortable in celebrating British traditions.”

Rule, Britannia! started out as the patriotic finale to the opera Alfred, which had its premiere in 1740 and tells the story of Alfred the Great.

Although Sir Keir Starmer, Labour leader, also backed Rule, Britannia! being performed, his spokesman said: “Enjoying patriotic songs does not and should not be a barrier to examining our past.”

Last year, No 10 issued a thinly veiled rebuke to hundreds of Last Night attendees who waved EU flags during a finale in which British flags have traditionally been waved.