LABOUR’S culture chief has been slapped down for claiming Rule Britannia is an “alienating” song.
Thangam Debbonaire was tonight accused of spouting “complete nonsense” about the Last Night Of The Proms classic.
She said it was “not my favourite bit of music” and called for a “good debate” over whether it should be played on the BBC show.
Rishi Sunak waded into the row - with No10 saying “it should continue to be sung and proudly.’
In 2020 the broadcaster caved to left-wing calls to axe the music - criticised for links to colonialism - before hastily reinstating it following an anti-woke backlash.
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But last month the cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason reignited the storm after saying it makes people “feel uncomfortable”.
Ms Debbonaire said it was for the Corporation to decide whether to play the patriotic song at the Proms.
The Shadow Culture Secretary told The Spectator: “It’s not my favourite bit of music. And the Proms is a fantastic institution and it’s the world’s greatest music festival.
“I think it’s a decision for the people who run the Proms and again, like I said, it shouldn’t be politicians who tell people how to run cultural events.
“I think for a lot of people that feels like a very sort of British moment, which I think has to be respected as well, but for a lot of people, as Sheku Kenneh-Mason said, it will feel alienating.
“As I want the Proms - I want culture - to be accessible to everyone, I think it’s a good debate for us to be having.”
Tory MPs rounded on her remarks, with ex-minister Brendan Clarke-Smith raging: “What nonsense. It’s a brilliant song and one everybody can enjoy.”
Fellow backbencher Tom Hunt piled in: “I’ve never met anyone who finds the singing of Rule Britannia ‘alienating’.
“To think it’s Labour MPs who constantly accuse us of stoking ‘culture wars’.”
Nile Gardiner, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher, said: “If you have a problem with Rule Britannia you shouldn’t be running the country.”
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