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I know its unfashionable and people will sneer at me but patriotic songs actually mean a great deal to me, they express the love I have for my country, its landscape, history, culture and inhabitants. When I heard them living overseas they reminded me of Britain.
Last night of the Proms is everything good about Britain, its at once reverent and deeply silly, its serious play, a global audience brought togehter by universal principles and culture that are guarded and nurtured by a particular place, people and culture.
The people who attack it, the songs, and British patiotism feel like bigots to me, they aren't interested or curious, they don't have nuanced critiques, they just want to see a culture they have contempt for be replaced with one they consider morally and intellectually superior.
We talk a lot today about things being 'offensive' but the way this has been handled by the BBC, and talked about by a lot of people who are decision makers and major voices in the arts, is actually, really, truly offensive to British people in general.
I agree the culture war framing is tiresome and awful, and I'm tired of it too, but the solution is for there to be basic mutual respect and tolerence, even if you don't personally like the monarchy, or patriotic songs etc, you should respect that they mean a lot to other people.
