English National Anthem — House of Commons, 2016-01-13
Topic: Mixed Topics
Matthew Toby Perkins (Labour, Centre-left): I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for an English National Anthem for use at sporting events that involve individuals or teams representing England; and for connected purposes I am neither a republican nor an atheist, and nor am I am English nationalist. I shall say more about that theme shortly, but hon. Members should detect no hostility from me towards God, Her Majesty the Queen, "God Save the Queen" or the United Kingdom. Indeed, it is precisely out of respect for preserving many of those things that I believe that the time has come to consider the question of an English national anthem. I acknowledge the excellent work already done on the issue by the hon. Members for Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland), for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) and for Romford (Andrew Rosindell), which shows that this is a real cross-party campaign. The Prime Minister has also shown sympathy with the argument for an English national anthem The level of interest in the matter confirms that the movement for an anthem for England is one whose time has come. As is often the case, it is for us in Parliament to catch up with public opinion and allow the voice of England to be heard. I spoke to radio stations in all corners of England this morning, such was the interest in the debate about what our anthem should be. There were vox pops on the streets of towns far and wide, and each area reflected the specific differences of our multifaceted nation. I will not say which area thought that the most appropriate choice for an English national anthem would be "Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now"—that will remain a secret between me and the listeners of BBC Radio Humberside—but that reflects the fact that each local area has its own sense of what Englishness means When England play against other home nations on the football or rugby field, I often find it incongruous that while the Welsh and Scots sing an anthem that reflects the identity of their nations, England sings about Britain. That reflects a sense that we see Britain and England as synonymous, and it not only denies us English an opportunity to celebrate the nation that is being represented, but is a cause of resentment among other countries within the British Isles, which feel that England has requisitioned the British song I deliberately have not referred so far to the Bill’s implications for Northern Ireland. While the measure is specifically about England and would have no jurisdiction over Northern Ireland whatsoever, I am aware of considerable interest from Northern Ireland, to which I shall respond shortly National anthems are a matter of convention. The British national anthem is accepted as being "God Save the Queen", although that is not enshrined in law. The first team to sing a national anthem before a sporting contest was the Welsh rugby team in 1905, in response to the New Zealand haka. Since then, the Welsh tradition of singing "Land of my Fathers" has given an especially Welsh flavour to every sporting contest in which the team competes. The song "Flower of Scotland" has been used as the national anthem by the Scotland rugby team before each of their defeats—or should I say matches?