Call for England to have its own national anthem

Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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MPs are to debate and vote on whether England should adopt an official national anthem.

The UK anthem, God Save the Queen, is currently used during some sporting events but Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins believes England should have its own.

He intends to bring his English National Anthem Bill to Parliament on 13 January.

If MPs vote in favour, a public consultation would be held to choose a song.

The Labour MP said: "I have nothing against God Save the Queen but that is the national anthem of the United Kingdom.

"England is a component part of the UK but it competes as a country in its own right and I think a song that celebrated England rather than Britain would be more appropriate."

In certain sports in which England rather than Great Britain competes, such as football, God Save the Queen, the UK national anthem, is sung by the England players. Northern Ireland footballers also sing it before matches. However, Scotland and Wales footballers have adopted the Flower of Scotland and Land of My Fathers (Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau) respectively as their pre-match anthems.

English athletes at the Commonwealth Games, however (unlike the Olympics, there is no Great Britain team at the Commonwealth Games), sing the English patriotic song Jerusalem at the medals ceremonies rather than God Save the Queen.

Call for England to have its own national anthem

BBC News
31 December 2015


God Save the Queen, sung here by Welsh star Katherine Jenkins prior to an NFL International Series match at Wembley, is currently used by England at some sporting events

MPs are to debate and vote on whether England should adopt an official national anthem.

The UK anthem, God Save the Queen, is currently used during some sporting events but Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins believes England should have its own.

He intends to bring his English National Anthem Bill to Parliament on 13 January.

If MPs vote in favour, a public consultation would be held to choose a song.

The Labour MP said: "I have nothing against God Save the Queen but that is the national anthem of the United Kingdom.

"England is a component part of the UK but it competes as a country in its own right and I think a song that celebrated England rather than Britain would be more appropriate."


England teams, such as the women's hockey team who became European champions in August, have traditionally lined up to sing the UK anthem


David Cameron, shown here singing at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, has said he would pick Jerusalem as his choice for England's national anthem

Mr Perkins said he was proud to be both English and British but they were "not the same thing".

His proposed new law would bestow a responsibility on the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to hold a consultation.

All relevant sporting bodies would be instructed to use the chosen anthem prior to international sporting contests, at medal awarding ceremonies and whenever else a national anthem was required for teams or athletes representing England.

God Save the Queen would continue to be used for teams or individuals representing Great Britain.


Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins who intends to bring the English National Anthem Bill to parliament on 13 January

"I hope that Scots and Welsh will also recognise this is not an anti-Union move, but a pro-Union one," said Mr Perkins.

"By recognising that England is a component part of the Union but a different entity, I think this strengthens both our Englishness but also reminds us all of what the Union is."

Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland raised the same issue in Parliament in 2010.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said that Jerusalem would be his choice for England's national anthem, according to the ConservativeHome website.

A song for England?

Jerusalem was chosen as the anthem to be played for English athletes competing at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi following a month-long public vote.

Voters were able to choose from three songs, and Jerusalem beat both the UK national anthem and the anthem previously used for English athletes competing at Commonwealth Games.

Jerusalem drew 52.5% of the votes

Land of Hope and Glory was voted for by 32.5%

God Save The Queen was voted for by 12%

Survey by YouGov of 1,896 entrants


Call for England to have its own national anthem - BBC News
 
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Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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Tecumsehsbones said:
I thought "Land of Hope and Glory" was the English anthem.
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No. Land of Hope and Glory, composed by British composer Edward Elgar in 1901, with lyrics written by A.C. Benson in 1902, is a British patriotic hymn, just like God Save the Queen (or God Save the King as it will be again soon).

Though "Horst Wessel Lied" would be more appropriate.
Click to expand...

No, it wouldn't, my dear. The Horst Wessel Song was the hymn of the Nazi Party.
 
Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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CDNBear said:
Almost identical principles.
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There's nothing identical in any principles here. Plus, the BNP are a British nationalist party, not an English one.

England's anthem should be Jerusalem, and that is the anthem that all sportsmen representing England, including our footballers, should be singing before games and at medals ceremonies.

 
Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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CDNBear said:
You don't even know what principles are.
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I pride myself on being a man of sound principles; a white, heterosexual, Anglican, proud Englishman and Ukip voter who would make the best British Prime Minister since Thatcher.
 
Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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Tecumsehsbones said:
Precisely. Therefore appropriate for the BNP and BNP-Lite.
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Why are Ukip - a party which received nearly 4 million votes at the 2015 General Election - "racist"? For wanting the same points-based immigration system that Canada and Australia have and for wanting Britain to be out of the EU and be an independent nation state running her own affairs again rather than being dictated to by mainly unelected foreigners in Brussels (and Strasbourg at certain times of the year, when the EU Parliament up-sticks and moves there, and great expense to the hundreds of millions of EU taxpayers, just to suit French egos)?
 
C

Curious Cdn

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Eng-ga-land, oh En-ga-land my hand is o'er my heart,
We love you for your wheels of cheese and deep fried jammy tarts.
We pray to you, oh Lord above to make the dark clouds part
and return to us our football cup to where the sport did start.
 
Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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MPs vote in favour of English national anthem

BBC News
13 January 2016


Jerusalem was chosen as the anthem to be played for English athletes competing at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, and was used again in 2014 in Glasgow

MPs have voted in favour of the idea of England adopting an official national anthem.

God Save the Queen, the national anthem for the UK as a whole, is currently used for England during most sporting events.

However, Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins believes England needs its own anthem and presented his case in the House of Commons as a ten minute rule motion.

The idea will be debated again at a second reading on 4 March.

The bill would bestow a responsibility on the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to hold a consultation across the UK, and Mr Perkins suggested there could even be an "X Factor style programme" to select a song.

He said there had been a lot of interest in choosing an anthem when he spoke on radio stations across England.

"I won't say which area it was that thought the most appropriate choice for an English national anthem should be Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now," he said.

"It will remain a secret between myself and the listeners of BBC Humberside, but it was perhaps reflective that each local area has its own sense of what Englishness means."

Jerusalem, based on the William Blake poem "And did those feet in ancient time", has come out as favourite in previous polls

Campaign group England In My Heart wants Jerusalem to be adopted and arranged for a van with loudspeakers to drive around Parliament playing the song ahead of the debate.

"It's about time England was able to celebrate being English at sporting events," said group member Eddie Bone.

"Let the Scots and the Welsh celebrate theirs and then we come together at the end and sing God Save the Queen."


England sporting teams, such as the women's hockey team who became European champions in August, have traditionally lined up to sing the UK anthem

Another campaign group, Anthem 4 England, said Jerusalem has come out as favourite in previous polls.

Member Gareth Young said it was his personal favourite too.

"It's a beautiful song and it actually mentions and is about England, unlike its competitors," he said.

He said people wrongly think it's a hymn and also "object to the fact that it references a Middle Eastern city" but said these objections were "largely based on ignorance" as Jerusalem was a metaphor for a better place.

Using the UK anthem as the English anthem was an "unnecessary strain on relations between England and Scotland" in the wake of the independence referendum, he added.

"God Save the Queen is the British anthem and should belong equally to the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish," he said.

Which song for England?

Prime Minister David Cameron has said that Jerusalem would be his choice for England's national anthem, according to the ConservativeHome website.

Jerusalem was chosen as the anthem to be played for English athletes competing at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi following a month-long public vote.

The England cricket team have used Jerusalem as an unofficial anthem for more than a decade - but still also sing God Save The Queen before many matches.

Land of Hope and Glory - which was used by England at the Commonwealth Games before 2010 - often comes up as second choice, behind Jerusalem, in public polls.

Land of Hope and Glory


Toby Perkins said I Vow To Thee, My Country and There'll Always Be an England were also options.

Campaigners have also suggested creating an anthem from scratch.

I Vow To Thee, My Country


There'll Always Be An England


Do you think England should have a national anthem? If so what would you pick? Share you suggestions by emailing

haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

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MPs vote in favour of English national anthem - BBC News
 
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