'One Britain, One Nation' day ridiculed over 'creepy' schoolchildren anthem

23 June 2021, 06:36 | Updated: 23 June 2021, 10:43

Social media users have ridiculed a bid for schoolchildren to celebrate "One Britain One Nation" (OBON) this week, calling its anthem "creepy" and prompting comparisons to North Korea.

The campaign, which has been backed by the Department for Education, has published a song that ends with children repeatedly singing "Strong Britain, great nation".

Founded by Kash Singh, a former inspector with West Yorkshire Police, OBON says it wants to instil pride of being British in people regardless of their background.

"OBON wants to see every child develop a strong emotional and meaningful connection with our country and its people by recognising that we are all one people with a role to play in the life of our nation where everyone must feel happy, safe and valued," its website states.

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"OBON wants to create a spirit of inclusion with a collective purpose and a common future where we all seek to eliminate hatred, intolerance and discrimination of any kind so that all our people can feel and develop a strong and shared sense of belonging in order to showcase their pride, passion and love for our great nation."

The Department for Education (DfE) tweeted: "We're encouraging schools across the UK to celebrate One Britain One Nation Day on 25 June, when children can learn about our shared values of tolerance, kindness, pride and respect."

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But the announcement was ridiculed after the campaign's anthem, sung by children, was posted online.

A video shows children across the UK waving branded "One Britain, One Nation" banners with union jacks.

It features lyrics including "We celebrate our differences with love in our hearts. United forever, never apart" and "We are Britain and we have one dream, to unite all people in one great team".

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The anthem ends with the children repeatedly singing "Strong Britain, great na-ation", which came in for particular ridicule on social media.

One Twitter user replied to the DfE's tweet, saying it was "awful on many levels" and the song "would not be out of place in North Korea!"

Another described it as "creepy and just plain wrong".

But one user said it was "very sad" an attempt at patriotism led to "assumptions and exaggerations".

Education is devolved in the UK and some Scottish schools will have broken up by June 25.

LBC was given an error message when it attempted to contact OBON for comment.