I read the report "Our national anthem is under attack" by Louise Gray (February 15) with great interest.
The problem is that God Save The Queen is actually a Royal Anthem and as such should only be sung when the Queen is present.
We also seem to have a problem deciding whether England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are nations and therefore need an anthem, or whether the UK is the nation that needs the anthem. As national anthems are rarely sung anywhere except international sporting events, I'd suggest the need for an English anthem is more urgent.
It does seem that only we English are not encouraged by brass bands to sing something other than God Save The Queen when we compete with another home nation.
Perhaps I could appeal to our Scottish leaders, The Prime Minister, Chancellor, Lord Chancellor, Head of the House of Commons, Speaker of the House of Commons and even more incredibly Chairman of the English Football Association to stop pretending the English don't exist. Play an anthem for the English after you've played Land Of Our Fathers or Flower Of Scotland, but not a royal anthem.
I'd vote for Jerusalem for the English nation, and for the group of nations called the United Kingdom, Land of Hope And Glory.
John Bird
Keldale, Haxby, York
Updated: 11:15 Wednesday, February 20, 2002
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