Anthems should be sung ‘loud and proud’
RULE Britannia and Land Of Hope And Glory should be celebrated and sung loudly at the Last Night Of The Proms, says Southport MP Damien Moore.
Mr Moore would also like to see the iconic British anthems played at a Proms style event in Southport.
The songs have been at the centre of controversy since they were initially due to be dropped for this year’s event, before the BBC announced that they would be played instrumentally and not sung after some critics attacked the songs’ imperial past.
Mr Moore has joined Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, in asserting that Rule Britannia and Land Of Hope And Glory are a part of British culture which should be celebrated and not dropped, with Britain able to learn from its history.
Mr Moore said: “Singing Rule Britannia and Land Of Hope And Glory at the Last Night of the Proms is a national institution. They are highlights of the event each year and I think it is really important that we keep them.
“Modern, confident, forwardlooking nations like ours cherish and learn from their history, they don’t erase it.
“These songs should be celebrated, they should be enjoyed by people.
“Not just at the Last Night Of The Proms, but people should also sing them in their homes, from their doorsteps.
“This debate has highlighted that we need to hold on to something which is so patriotic and so historic for Britain.”
A decade ago, Southport used to stage the Southport Summer Classics at Victoria Park in Southport every Summer.
Each Sunday at the event, the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra used to perform popular classics which included Rule Britannia and Land Of
Hope And Glory in front of flagwaving crowds.
Southport Summer Classics is currently facing a possible revival, and Damien Moore would elcome its return.
He said: “I would love to see people be able to go down to Victoria Park in Southport and enjoy a Proms style event.
“People know songs like Rule Britannia and Land Of Hope And Glory, people love them.
“You can’t just erase them. “Britain has changed lots of laws and lots of other things over the past 200 years, and it will continue to do so.
“Societies evolve, they change for the better.
“Every historian agrees that you cannot change history, but you can and you must learn from it, and that is what Britain has done and will continue to do.”
“Britain has become a much better place because we have learned from our history.
“Last Night Of The Proms and songs such as Rule Britannia and Land Of Hope And Glory are national institutions.
“They are exactly what we need right now as we come through one of our toughest times in recent history with the coronavirus pandemic.
“We should be doing much more like this.
“If the BBC is struggling with the Proms event this year then perhaps then should play a repeat of last year’s event.”