Gareth Young's List: anthem

A Wharfedale MP has stepped up his long-running campaign in support of an English national anthem.

Rather bizarrely for a country that has existed in more or less its present form for well over a thousand years, England does not have an official national anthem.

The English have a perfectly good anthem in God Save the Queen and a fine flag in the Union flag. There is simply no need or demand for the English to adopt the flag of St George or a new song.

With the hope of further encouraging a modern, inclusive British identity, our director Sunder Katwala wrote to the Prime Minister, as well as to the leaders of the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats, asking for their help in opening up the debate on whether England should have its own anthem

I do think it’s high time that England adopted a uniquely English anthem, particularly for use at sporting occasions.

Dr Mycock said: “It is not a question of ditching God Save The Queen. I believe it should remain as the British national anthem for state occasions and sporting events such as the Olympics where there is a British team competing.

I’d agreed at some point yesterday to do a telephone interview with them about our National Anthem on their breakfast radio show. I’d set myself a reminder, but plainly slept through it.

Labour MP Jon Cruddas is throwing his support behind a campaign that calls for England to have its own national anthem.

Commentary on St George's Day 2012 was dominated by coverage of British Future's report This Sceptred Isle ↑ .

Member of Parliament for Leeds North West and long time campaigner for and English national anthem, Greg Mulholland, has today tabled a Parliamentary motion welcoming calls and campaigns for an English national anthem from a number of groups including British Future and Anthem4England.

I’m not too exercised by it either way.  Yes, I’d argue that there are more effective ways to counter the far right’s usurping of the English flag to a cause with a perverse reasoning about what it is to be English, but then, yes, if it helps people identify with another, more reasonable kind of national pride, then it can’t be all bad. 

Scotland have one, Wales has one; why shouldn't England have one?  In today's Sunday Telegraph, I have signed a letter with British Future and others to call for an English Anthem.  This should be sung at English sporting events, just as other countries anthems are.

Arne was born in 1710 and died in 1778 and in his lifetime was one of the country’s leading music composers for the theatre. The first published version of “God Save the King”, very similar to the present tune, appeared in Thesaurus Musicus in 1744.

England needs a rousing national anthem of its own to help restore pride in the country, say campaigners.

The survey found that while 80 per cent linked the British flag with such feelings, only 61 per cent associated them with English one.

A group of writers, MPs and other personalities from across the political spectrum have today published a letter in the Sunday Telegraph calling for an English anthem.

Let’s fast forward to 1st July, to the City of Kyiv (Kiev,) capital of Ukraine. The English national football team has just beaten Spain in the final of the European Championships by three goals to nil (a brilliant hat-trick by Wayne Rooney.) Despite England’s surprising run of success in the finals under the reign of new manager Harry Redknapp, Spain were the clear favourites to lift the trophy going into this match. Now they have been left shell-shocked and dejected by the technical brilliance and passion of the English players. England’s captain Steven Gerrard ascends the steps to receive the trophy and the huge contingent of English fans in the stadium erupts.

It’s time that we English rediscovered our Englishness in a positive light. I would like to finish by pointing you towards a song which reminds me to be proud to be English in a positive way, but also what we lose if we don’t celebrate our English.

The Six Nations is a great tournament, drawing in many of us who don’t pay a great deal of attention to rugby for the rest of the year.

SCOTLAND should ditch the “backward-looking and depressing” Flower of Scotland and find a new national anthem in time for hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games, a leading piper has said.