BANNED OF HOPE AND GLORY?
BBC could drop patriotic songs from Last Night of Proms after race protests
BBC bosses faced anger yesterday over a proposal to drop Rule, Britannia! and Land Of Hope And Glory from the Last Night of the Proms.
Critics accused the broadcaster of pandering to political correctness in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, and called for a licence fee boycott.
The songs are a popular fixture of the final night of the BBC Proms, when thousands of flagwaving ‘Prommers’ pack the Royal Albert Hall.
But BBC bosses confirmed that the traditional Last Night repertoire was under review this year.
Organisers have been forced to change the entire Proms season because of coronavirus restrictions, which limit the number of singers and musicians who can perform together. Live audiences have been banned.
This year’s conductor for the Last Night, Dalia Stasevska, 35, from Finland, was said to be keen to modernise the repertoire and reduce its patriotic elements.
‘Dalia is a big supporter of Black Lives Matter and thinks a ceremony without an audience is the perfect moment to bring change,’ a BBC source told the Sunday Times.
A BBC spokesman refused to confirm or deny that the songs could be dropped, but said plans for the Last Night on September 12 were still being finalised.
Organisers were said to be considering ditching them in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests but have yet to agree the controversial move, according to the Sunday Times.
Miss Stasevska has been involved in regular Zoom calls with David Pickard, director of the BBC Proms, to discuss the night’s programme, along with
South African soprano Golda Schultz, who will perform.
The Rule, Britannia! line ‘Britons never shall be slaves’ has prompted anger in light of Britain’s own role in the slave trade.
The 1902 lyrics of Land Of Hope And Glory were reputedly inspired by Cecil Rhodes, whose statue was among those targeted for removal by the Black Lives Matter protests.
Some politicians and campaigners voiced their anger over moves to drop the songs.
Tory Paul Bristow, the MP for Peterborough, tweeted: ‘Is it time to put the BBC out of its licence fee misery? It must be painful for them to be funded by millions of people it no longer has anything in common with.’
Head teacher Katharine Birbalsingh, whose father was IndianGuyanese and whose mother was Jamaican, said she had ‘waved flags and sang Rule, Britannia!’ at the Royal Albert Hall last year with black friends.
She said: ‘The white people in the audience did not tell us to stop, that the song isn’t ours, that we are too black to sing it. So what’s the problem?’
But Wasfi Kani, 64, chief executive of Grange Park Opera in Surrey, whose parents sought refuge in Britain after the partition of India in 1947, said she would support the removal of the songs.
She told the Sunday Times: ‘I don’t listen to Land Of Hope And Glory and say, “Thank God I’m British” – it actually makes me feel more alienated. Britain raped India and that is what that song is celebrating.’
Proms presenter Josie d’Arby, who is black, said the programme this year reflected ‘respect for the current climate’. She said the Last Night should be inclusive but added: ‘Part of being inclusive involves including your traditional audience and the diehard fans.’
A BBC spokesman said: ‘We are still finalising arrangements for the Last Night of the Proms. Full details will be announced nearer the time.’
‘Anger over role in slave trade’