WHAT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR WALES IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ENGLAND! – MULHOLLAND
Embargo: Immediate, Tuesday 20th May 2008
Greg Mulholland, MP for Leeds North West, has said that, after the Welsh National Anthem was played alongside God Save the Queen at Wembley at the weekend to mark the fact that Cardiff City made the final, it is time for an English anthem to mark when English teams compete internationally.
Greg has written to the Football Association to outline these views.
Commenting on the opening Greg said:
“It is rather odd that the welsh national anthem was used for a welsh team playing in the FA Cup Final, yet the English Football Association continues to ignore the obvious fact that the England football team should use an English national anthem.
“It is time this blind spot was addressed. I am all for Scotland and Wales having their own anthems and using them when appropriate, but how long must we endure England being overlooked or lazily confused with Great Britain and the UK.
“It is time English sporting associations, starting with the FA woke up to this. In 1966 England fans waved union jacks, now they proudly and correctly fly the cross of St George. “
“It is time we made the same logical step with the anthem and left God Save the Queen for its correct usage such as at the Olympics when we are competing as Great Britain or the United Kingdom”.
ENDS
This is a most divisive item!
If\when it happens you will spend the rest of eternity arguing about whether it should be Jerusalem, We Are The Champions or Old MacDonald had a Farm. We have ‘our own anthem’ up her but i dont know what it is and ,most people sing flower of scotland
Don’t worry Axel, we’ll get it right here. We’ll appoint a committee of the great and the good. They will be paid a generous wage, meet every week, issue lots of press releases, spend lots of money, and come up with a tuneless dirge that no-one will know or want to.
The committee will then move on to ‘improve’ other aspects of our lives, will increase in number and importance, get EU funding, and live on forever more.
Going into ‘Conspiracy Mode’
Because this is something people care about and it is a pretty simple issue, people will get drawn into the debate and it will sap their will to participate in the political process.
Fox hunting was the same thing, look how minor and unimportant it was, yet look how much aggro it generated! I’m sure it was brought up when westminster needed some diversion