Proms 'failing to promote' our Britishness

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In an outburst that outraged Gordon Brown, she said the much-loved summer concert series was not doing enough to boost a shared cultural identity.

Her claims astonished fans of the Proms, whose colourful last night with its chorus of Land Of Hope And Glory is one of Britain's most popular annual events. The Prime Minister quickly let it be known he regards the Proms as a bastion of Britishness.

Ms Hodge spoke out in The Guardian ahead of a speech on cultural values. "The audiences for many of our greatest cultural events - I'm thinking in particular of the Proms - is still a long way from demonstrating that people from different backgrounds feel at ease in being part of this," she said. Ms Hodge was later spelling out her views in a speech to the IPPR think tank, calling on British institutions to spread shared values.

But her criticism angered Mr Brown's allies, who asked why she failed to clear her speech with No10. "What is she on about?" demanded one MP close to Mr Brown. "The Last Night of the Proms makes us all massively proud to the British."

Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "There is probably no better example in the world of a series of concerts that attracts a huge audience to often quite challenging classical music."