Be a patriotic Brit – and that’s an order

One Britain One Nation Day – which takes place tomorrow in case you hadn’t heard – is the brainchild of former police officer Kash Singh.

He is on a mission to create “a strong, fair, harmonious and a proud British nation, celebrating patriotism and respect for all our people”.

Tomorrow marks the third such “day of pride and unity”, and it comes with a couple of requests of schools across the country. At 10am, children will be encouraged to clap for a minute to “recognise, embrace and pay tribute to all those people who helped during the Covid 19 pandemic crisis”. They will then be asked to sing the One Britain One Nation (OBON) anthem, which was penned by youngsters from Bradford and is titled: “We are Britain and we have one dream to unite all people in one great team.”

The lyrics, which are said to promote the concept of “responsible citizenship”, feature the refrain “strong Britain, great nation” and say that we “celebrate our differences with love in our hearts, united forever, never apart”.

As part of the OBON campaign, there’s also a pledge over “re-appropriating the flag of Great Britain “so that it represents all people of good conscience”.

Naturally the politicians have jumped aboard, with Boris Johnson possibly seeing the song as an opportunity to inject a bit of patriotism into the nation at a time when football fans have been booing England players who take the knee.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has encouraged all schools to belt out the song, which the Department for Education says will help children learn about “our shared values of tolerance, kindness, pride and respect”. A leaflet published by OBON also suggests that children should mark the occasion by dressing in red, white and blue.

However, plenty of critics have poured scorn on the whole idea, with rather unkind comparisons to the Hitler Youth being banded about on social media.

Scottish Nationalist Nicola Sturgeon has branded the song “inappropriate” – hardly surprising considering she is desperate to break the nation up.

As it turns out most Scottish kids won’t be given the chance to sing it anyway, as their schools will have broken up for the holidays. Some parents have reportedly threatened to boycott the whole thing and keep their kids off school for the day, and it remains to be seen what the take up will be here in the West Midlands.

The small number of schools approached by the Star said they hadn’t heard of OBON Day and weren’t planning on pausing lessons for a song.

Founder Mr Singh, who is apparently friendly with a number of Conservative MPs, has defended his concept, saying it had been a huge success in West Yorkshire.

“This country is a brilliant country,” he told his local newspaper. “I came to this country as a six-year-old kid who couldn’t speak a word of English.

“My parents were labourers, they worked in a factory and foundry. There are fantastic people in this country.

“I think we need to celebrate that and create this spirit of oneness and togetherness, and showcase that we’re all one people of this country regardless of where you’re from.”

Of course, nations using a school song to flex their patriotic muscles is nothing new, and indeed, other countries have been doing it for years.

Russian kids start their day with a Vladimir Putin-approved ditty about the glory of the motherland, while in North Korea it is the “beautiful fatherland” that schoolchildren hail.

And younger school kids across the US are invited to perform the Pledge of Allegiance while standing with hand on heart.

When it comes to hoping such an event will catch on, the main problem could well be that British people don’t particularly like being told what to do.

And after a period where the nation has been ordered to stay indoors and banned from the pub, this could well be a bridge too far.

Brits have always been comfortable and proud with their nationality. Now politicians are jumping on Mr Singh’s good idea to instruct us to be patriotic. What was a spontaneous affair has now been swallowed by officialdom.

It is an extension of a theme developed since Brexit. The drive to encourage patriotism has so far mostly extended to forcefeeding us images of Tory ministers sitting next to enormous Union flags. Some, like Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, play up their part when on TV – much to the derision of the public on social media.

He has also brought in a Civil Aviation Ensign and he carefully places his ministerial briefcase at a jaunty angle as if to play up his credentials.