British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pulled up his Arts Minister Margaret Hodge for stating that the celebrated Union Flag-waving audience for the famous Last Night concerts did not promote the right sort of Britishness.
London, Mar.5 : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pulled up his Arts Minister Margaret Hodge for stating that the celebrated Union Flag-waving audience for the famous Last Night concerts did not promote the right sort of Britishness.
The champagne socialist blasted the Royal Albert Hall shows, a huge hit on BBC TV, but Brown immediately declared the popular Proms were "wonderful, democratic and quintessentially British."
In a speech on Britishness and the Arts yesterday, Hodge hailed telly's Coronation Street and Wembley stadium for promoting a common identity.
But, according to The Sun, she criticised the Proms by saying that it is still a long way from demonstrating that people from different backgrounds feel at ease in being part of this."
She said Britishness needed to be expressed "in a way that doesn't reflect the imperialist traditions of our past."
She even had the gall to take a swipe at Brown's campaign for British values.
She insisted: "National mottos and statements of shared values have to be lived and made real if they are to fulfil their purpose."
As the criticism mounted, rattled Hodge cancelled plans to appear on TV and radio to talk about her speech.
The BBC stressed 272,000 attended the Proms festival of music last year with millions more watching on TV or at special concerts around the country.
Tory leader David Cameron said: "Margaret Hodge is wrong. We want more things where people come together to celebrate Britishness and think that the Union Jack is a great symbol of our Britishness."
His party pointed out the Proms had already been Praised by Culture Minister David Lammy.
ANI