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God Save the Queen 'is due for a rewrite', says Labour's Lord Goldsmith
Last updated at 00:22am on 05.12.07
Lord Goldsmith: Anthem 'not inclusive'
Lord Goldsmith, the former attorney general, said there was "some problem" with God Save the Queen.
He suggested the replacement of little-known verses, such as that which calls for "rebellious Scots" to be crushed.
It is one of a series of radical suggestions mooted by Lord Goldsmith, who was appointed by Gordon Brown to head a "citizenship review".
As part of the inquiry into the meaning, rights and duties of being British, he has suggested including a "statement of values" to become part of a new Bill of Rights, and of asking for volunteers to "mentor" immigrants and help them settle.
However, Lord Goldsmith may find himself facing an uphill task if he attempts to rewrite the anthem.
New versions - intended to remove bellicosity about the monarch's enemies from some of the verses - began to be written before Queen Victoria was on the throne. None caught on.
Lord Goldsmith told Sky News: "There is some problem with some part of it, absolutely. Part of it is not actually that inclusive but that is if you go to the later verses.
"Some people have suggested we might think about whether there are different words that might be put in place which would be more inclusive."
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The Queen: The anthem is dedicated to the monarch but now some lyrics could change
He said the Union Flag would probably be safe from alteration but the public should let him know their views.
"The Union Jack is understood and there is enough there," Lord Goldsmith added.
"But if there is a strong view about all these different symbols of nationality then they are things we ought to know about."
God Save The King/Queen became the world's first national anthem.
The origins of both words and tune are unknown.
But by the start of the 19th century composer Thomas Arne's arrangement had become acknowledged as the national patriotic song and the idea of having one was being copied across Europe.
Only the first verse is commonly sung, although, occasionally, the third verse, which refers to the monarch defending our laws, is used.
Julie Kirkbride, a former Tory culture spokesman, said: "Most people are hard-pressed to remember anything beyond the first verse.
"The point about a national anthem is that it should be patriotic and traditional. We should not be rewriting them to conform to the political correctness of any particular time."
Downing Street moved to distance Scot Gordon Brown from the Goldsmith initiative.
A spokesman said: "This does not reflect the Government's views. We are proud of our national anthem and the traditions it represents."
Reader views (29)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
I live in England, surrounded by the English Channel. Hands up who enjoys an English breakfast? Our Queen is the Queen of England not the Queen of Britain. Our money comes from the Bank of England. Has anyone thought to ask Her Majesty whether she would like her anthem changed? What next? Will you throw the English into the English Channel Mr Goldsmith. I'm sure you have something planned for us.
- Sylvie Howard, Ilford, Essex
God save our poor UK
Long live our poor UK
God save us all
New Labours got a scheme
To kill the English dream
All their motives are obscene
God save us Brits
Corruption is the game
Always they pass the blame
Why don't they take the shame
God save us Brits
Taxes rise every day
For their mistakes we must pay
Even on your dying day
God save us Brits
English History must be wrong
They change words to this song
Till we feel we don't belong
God save us Brits
Our NHS treats them all
Places found in every school
Britannia is no longer cool
God save us Brits
English history will soon be banned
From this once green and pleasant land
But we stick our heads in the sand
God save us Brits
- Gary Parker, Amersham
Labour has to go away. Why don't they rewrite their own script!
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London
Perhaps Lord Goldsmith should try and recommend an alternative to the Israeli national anthem and see what reaction he gets.
- Eric, Herts
Utter nonsense Goldsmith. Maybe your title wig and outfit should be binned instead.
- Jon, London
Lord Goldsmith is obviously another one of our odious politically correct brigade! Keep the National Anthem exactly the same as it is - it is part of our culture like many other things in our lives. They've already brought out the New English bible which the majority of us can't stand and don't use! If we have to get rid of any of the old crusty out of date stuff, then we should start with Lord Goldsmith and others like him who have ensured that most of the indigenous population are unable to recognise their country while he and others like him live in their glass bubbles completely protected from what others have to live with day in and day out.
- Wooram, Alicante, Spain
While I am no fan of the Monarchy myself, I think the Queen's personal popularity means people are happy to sing God Save the Queen. However when Prince Charles takes over will it change to God save us form the King?
- Mick, London, England
Haven't New Labour done enough damage to this country already? Is nothing sacred?
- Clare, London
How about "God Help the English" or "God Help Us All"? Fill in your own words...
- Jay, London, UK
As the Royal Navy put the Great into Great Britain and to satisfy atheists, republicans (deliberatley without a capital R)etc why not adopt Hearts of Oak as the national anthem?
- Peter Glazier, Sao Paulo, Brazil
I suspect that the Queen is about the only Brit on the international
"political" scene that commands and deserves respect from all. If it is going to be changed lets not insult her and wait until a more appropriate time.
- David, Burgess Hill
Meddling for the sake of meddling. How unusual! If he wants it to be inclusive of the various sectors of British society he should sit back and think about it for a minute (- an hour - a lifetime!)
Citizens are people who were either born in Britain, or who came to Britain to become British (well, that's the theory anyway). They're already included. The rest have their own national songs to sing.
- Rogan, Dallas TX
Why must Australians insist on being so utterly tedious when it comes to matters of national pride?
Oh, and their national anthem sucks just about as much as ours.
Perhaps we should have the theme tune from Minder. Or the Archers.
- Jk, London, UK
As a Scot, I couldn't care less about the unused other verses but the anthem is an absolute dirge. Land of Hope and Glory would be an admirable replacement and far more uplifting.
- Col, London
If the Labour party are allowed to continue their reign of destruction, there will be nothing left that represents our history and heritage within the UK. They continue to destroy our heritage, beliefs and religion of the indiginous population while over promoting ethnic minorities and mutliculturism. This is more typical far left destruction of everything British by the Labour party, get them out ASAP!
- Brandon Thomas, London, UK
Perhaps he could encourage people to treat elderly people with respect and mentor them. After all, they through their suffering have given us the 50 years of peace and freedom that the likes of Goldsmith wallow in but do not respect who gave it to us.
Enough of do this and do that for immigrants. Do you know some of our most vulnerable elderly people who only see others when they go to day centres, are no longer taken to day centres. Instead councils are using our money to 'help' healthy immigrants who have arrived here. It is an absolute disgrace how we treat our vulnerable and elderly citizens.
- Jane, London
'Flower of Scotland' is bellicose as anything and no one talks about changing that - and no one knows verses two and three of the the National Anthem anyway. What 'they' should be doing is sorting out an English Aria - Land of Hope and Glory being the obvious candidate - to sing at English national sports events against the other Home Nations anthems.
- Squiz, Islington
Roger - you are talking rubbish.
We Aussies sing Advance Australia Fair loudly and proudly. It's a great song to lift our players and athletes to sing before a big game. Unlike, of course, "God Save Our Gra... zzzz", which handily reverses all the good work done by the pre-match sports psychologists and ensures all English teams start matches half asleep.
Waltzing Matilda is a nice little ditty, but it's no national anthem. AAF beat Matilda and two other choices in a national referendum, so it really is the choice of the Aussies. And it's even had a little rewrite along the way to make it more inclusive.
"Australians all let us rejoice!" Yeah!
- Moz, London
How about using the Sex Pistols' version - it's much more modern and inclusive.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland
Since the Queen will become superfluous when the UK becomes a province of the new European Union superstate at the start of 2009, following ratification of the Reform Treaty, "God Save The Queen/King" will no longer be needed.
- Phil Jones, London UK
I always thought it had a boring tune, and silly lyrics. Land of Hope and Glory is a much better tune, or even Jerusalem if we want an English anthem now that the Celts seem to want to go it alone.
Australia has a similar problem with the atrocious 'Advance Australia Fair', where everyone knows that the true anthem is Waltzing Matilda.
- Roger, London
The opinion of an old man in a wig and stockings (representing as corrupt a profession as lawyers) deserves to be totally ignored on this (or any) issue.
- Micko, Dublin, Ireland
Surely there's a little-known Lese Majeste law left on the statute-books from Tudor times... Then the Queen can bang the tedious Peter Goldsmith up in the Tower for a few years, and thus do us all a favour...
- Ollie, London
I think we all know what being British means to 'Nu Multi-Corrupt-Everything Labour'; unfortunately if you are middle class you are out of the picture.
- Frank, Home Counties, England
I think we should have "Land of Hope and Glory" which is at least uplifting and gives continuity to the past.
- Roz, Chamonix, France
The National Anthem is perfectly inclusive enough for my culture, some Lord in a wig can re-write it if he likes but I will be proudly singing the original.
- Dave, London
Why must they always be meddling? Leave it alone!
- Paul, London
As an atheist and a strong Republican, both of which are growing trends in the UK, the so-called national anthem is meaningless to me and my family.
- Neil, Gloucestershire, England.
I'm sure Nu Labour will make a great job of rewriting it. Let's see now.
"God save" will obviously have to go, as it excludes some religions and atheists. Suggest "We like our gracious Queen" as a suitable replacement.
"Long live" may be OK but suggest Focus Group research to check if there's an implication that others may live less long.
"Send her victorious" may be seen as pro-war and unduly celebratory.
"Long to reign over us"? This needs serious reappraisal. We need a line to affirm the Queen as a benign figurehead whose purpose is to endorse Labour policy. A lot to say in only a short line. Suggest Lord Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice be approached for consultancy on this.
- Bryan Armstrong, London
