'DEFUND THE BBC'
Rule Britannia ban: Laurence Fox urges BBC viewers to cancel licence fee after lyrics ditched from Proms songs
LAURENCE Fox today urged BBC viewers to cancel their licence fees after the Beeb ditched lyrics from two Last Night of the Proms songs.
BBC luvvies sparked uproar on Monday by saying they would scrap the words from Land of Hope and Glory and Rule, Britannia! at the annual event.
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Bosses said the songs would instead feature as orchestral versions amid fears of a backlash from Black Lives Matter campaigners due to lyrical connotations about the British Empire.
Actor Laurence Fox said the decision came from a "Britain-hating" BBC, calling for it to be stripped of its license fee funding.
He tweeted: "Defund this shameful, Britain-hating organisation and start again. The lunatics are in charge of the asylum #Defund the BBC."
He previously wrote: "I feel so honoured to be British and part of the incredible and diverse modern nation we have become.
"Without the past, we wouldn't be where we are today. I wish the BBC would stop hating Britain so much #DefundTheBBC."
His comments were echoed by Piers Morgan, who called the decision "absolutely pathetic".
Piers wrote on Twitter: "The BBC needs to grow a pair & stop grovelling to such insane ‘woke’ cancel culture nonsense that most Britons find utterly absurd."
Over 10,000 Brits have now called for the lyrics to be reinstated, which hopes to reach 15,000 signatures.
Former MEP Richard Tice was among those threatening to cancel his license fee, tweeting: "If BBC wants to cancel our patriotism & our history by not singing Rule Britannia & Land of Hope & Glory, so I want to cancel my licence fee.
"They are in breach of their contract with the British people ."
Lord Digby Jones added: "So the BBC is considering dropping Rule Britannia & Land of Hope & Glory from the Last Night of the Proms. Is there no end to their wokeness?
"How about the enjoyment of the millions of Brits who pay the licence fee? You can’t choose history on your terms. It doesn’t belong to you."
'WHITE GUYS IN A PANIC'
It came as a BBC source described the handling of the Proms line-up as “white guys in a panic,” trying to appease the Black Lives Matter movement.
Meanwhile Boris Johnson slammed the “woke” plans to axe the patriotic sing-along climax from next month’s bash.
Debating the issue on Good Morning Britain, freedom of speech campaigner Inaya Folarin Iman said criticism of the two songs was "absurd", adding that they bring "a lot of people joy and happiness".
But Kehinde Andrews, a black studies professor at Birmingham City University, said the line "Britons never, never, never shall be slaves" from Rule Britannia is racist propaganda dating back to the British Empire.
Organisers said they were concerned about the lyrics along with their links.
TV choirmaster Gareth Malone, told that he supported removing Rule Britannia lyrics in solidarity with black and Irish members of his choirs who had refused to sing it in previous years.
He said: “If people want to sing about the subjugation and enslavement of other nations, I don’t think that should be given a platform in 2020.”
His view was shared by Chi-Chi Nwanoku, founder of the Chineke! Foundation, which supports ethnic minority musicians.
She told The Guardian: “The lyrics are just so offensive."
The annual Royal Albert Hall concert, beamed around the world, traditionally ends with the flag-waving anthems.
At the weekend, it was reported that the conductor for this year's Last Night, Dalia Stasevska of Finland, was keen to reduce the patriotic elements of the event.
It led to a backlash yesterday, with the Prime Minister and Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, getting involved.
Mr Dowden told the BBC that “confident, forward-looking nations don’t erase their history”.
And Boris Johnson said that while he understands the emotions involved, “we need to tackle the substance of problems, not the symbols”.
Former Cabinet Minister Andrea Leadsom tweeted: “Seriously? Has the Beeb totally lost touch?”
Tory MP David Morris said: “We cannot erase our history. We have got to be proud to be British. It does not matter what colour, creed or religion you are.”
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Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage told The Sun: “The BBC should stop apologising for our history and our heritage. People will be disgusted by this level of political correctness. The only thing that needs cancelling is the BBC itself.”
And North West Durham MP Richard Holden wrote: “Another stupid move from the BBC. Just let the people sing! At every turn the BBC just dig the hole they’re in a bit deeper. They need to stop with this attempt to appease the woke morons.”
In a bid to defuse the row, BBC bosses announced last night that the Last Night on September 12 would still feature "familiar, patriotic elements".
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It said: "With much reduced musical forces and no live audience, the Proms will curate a concert that includes familiar, patriotic elements such as Jerusalem and the National Anthem, and bring in new moments capturing the mood of this unique time [...]."
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It added that the programme will include "new orchestral versions of Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 'Land of Hope and Glory' (arr. Anne Dudley) and Rule Britannia".
There will be no audience at the Proms due to Covid restrictions.
Land of Hope and Glory lyrics
Land of Hope and Glory
Mother of the Free
How shall we extol thee
Who are born of thee?
Wider still, and wider
Shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty
Make thee mightier yet!
Dear Land of Hope, thy hope is crowned
God make thee mightier yet!
On Sov'ran brows, beloved, renowned
Once more thy crown is set
Thine equal laws, by Freedom gained
Have ruled thee well and long;
By Freedom gained, by Truth maintained
Thine Empire shall be strong
Thy fame is ancient as the days
As Ocean large and wide: A pride that dares, and heeds not praise
A stern and silent pride
Not that false joy that dreams content
With what our sires have won;
The blood a hero sire hath spent
Still nerves a hero son
Rule Britannia! lyrics
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.
When Britain first, at heaven's command,
Arose from out the azure main,
This was the charter of the land,
And Guardian Angels sang this strain:
The nations not so blest as thee
Must, in their turn, to tyrants fall,
While thou shalt flourish great and free:
The dread and envy of them all.
Still more majestic shalt thou rise,
More dreadful from each foreign stroke,
As the loud blast that tears the skies
Serves but to root thy native oak.
Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame;
All their attempts to bend thee down
Will but arouse thy generous flame,
But work their woe and thy renown.
To thee belongs the rural reign;
Thy cities shall with commerce shine;
All thine shall be the subject main,
And every shore it circles, thine.
The Muses, still with freedom found,
Shall to thy happy coasts repair.
Blest isle! with matchless beauty crowned,
And manly hearts to guard the fair.
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves
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Jamie Barton performs Rule Brittania at Last Night Of The Proms 2019
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