Tag Archives: One Britain One Nation

I thought it was a joke at first, a spoof.

We’re encouraging schools across the UK to celebrate One Britain One Nation Day on 25 June, when children can learn about our shared values of tolerance, kindness, pride and respect.#OBONDAY21 @1Britain1Nation

For more information:https://t.co/y7PQblUeDN

— Department for Education (@educationgovuk) June 21, 2021

The project for a song for One Britain, One Nation has much wrong with it.  Innocently written by a class of primary school children (but with some help), this was an act of symbolic violence against them.   Exploited by the Government’s agenda, this song will be rammed down children’s throats on Friday who won’t understand the nationalistic political context behind this.  The British public saw through it and went for it on twitter – #hitleryouth even started trending as a result.   The jingoistic overtones of this music project contributes to the current debates on the concept of #whiteprivilege, and whether critical race theory should be taught. This is how this project is coming across.

Where was the diversity in this, and the tolerance which is an essential part of the UK’s character in the brief for this project?  Where was the recognition of diverse cultures in the UK – the Scottish pipes, the Welsh choir, the Gaelic folk music, the bagpipes, the tin drums and the wide range of music from immigrant communities such as the Windrush generation, who have made the UK better and richer place after World War II by contributing so much to our community and country?   You want to really engage children in the classroom?  A bit of rap, ska or grime – which excellent music teachers are teaching as part of a diverse range of music, would have been good here.

If I was Ofsted inspector, I would have no choice but to fail this project on the grounds of inclusivity.  Last time I checked, Northern Ireland was part of the United Kingdom.  Yet not content with one border for goods drawn down the middle of the Irish Sea, the Government is now promoting another: a cultural border running somewhere west of the Isle of Man and east of Belfast.  This shouldn’t have been a song just about Britain, it should have been a song about the UK and tolerance and diversity.