Call me a snowflake, but it’s wrong to steal other people’s land
In case Mr Davies’s letter (Sept 1) about the Last Night of the Proms was a reaction to mine, may I respectfully point out I said nothing to disparage our armed services nor disregard the sacrifices those generations made.
However, I would remind him it was not we alone who won two world wars. Victory was the result of cooperation between ourselves with the Commonwealth, the USA, the
USSR and the resistance movements on the continent of Europe.
I said nothing in my letter about the singing of Rule, Britannia! either. I see that song as expressing similar sentiments to, let’s say, a football anthem. It is merely a good song wishing success to our side in any conflicts with rivals or enemies.
Most nations sing songs like that. Not good manners perhaps but acceptable for celebratory jollifications.
My letter was an attempt to address the anachronistic reference to expanding our empire in Land of Hope and Glory. Few people alive remember the days of Empire. One has to be more than 50 to have been alive when large parts of Africa and the Caribbean were under British colonial rule.
I certainly am not denying our history or the achievements of Empire but nor am I shutting my eyes to the dark side of that empire. It is time to move on. Accept that our past is now in the past and sing words which reflect our place and ambition in the 21st century.
Call me a snowflake if you must, but I find it is no longer acceptable to appropriate other people’s land. To sing a song today expressing that ambition is ridiculous. We should look positively to the future.
Lonsdale Avenue, Cosham