New poll shows over 50% of Britons don't want 'Rule Britannia' censored
A new survey has found that 55% of people oppose the BBC’s recent decision to perform an instrumental version of ‘Rule Britannia’ at the Last Night Of The Proms.
The British anthem, along with ‘Land Of Hope & Glory’, will be performed without lyrics at this year’s ceremony due to their perceived associations with Britain’s past of colonialism and slavery.
A new YouGov poll by The Times shows that 55% of people disagree with the decision, while 16% said that they agree with the BBC‘s compromise to perform instrumental versions. 5% disagree with it being performed at all.
After the decision was made, Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused the BBC of “wetness” over the choice, adding that the country needs to “stop our cringing embarrassment about our history, about our traditions, and about our culture.”
The Last Night Of The Proms will be held on September 12 this year, marking 125 years since its first edition. There will be no crowd in the event’s usual home of London’s Royal Albert Hall though, due to coronavirus restrictions.
The new conversations around the songs have come in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has been heightened in recent months following the death of George Floyd, an African American man who was killed in Minneapolis in May after an altercation with a white police officer.
The latest edition of the Proms has been described by an insider as the “Black Lives Matter Proms,” and will open with a piece written by Hannah Kendall, a Black British composer.
