British Students to Take Allegiance Oath?

Lord Goldsmith would like British students to take an oath of allegiance to the Union Jack to remind the students they are British citizens. Why would you need the remind the students of that, shouldn't they already have loyal to the British crown? Speaking of the British crown, Lord Goldsmith wants to scrap "God save the Queen" and probably replace it with "Allah save the Caliph". Times Online

he Government sparked a row with teachers today after a proposal for schoolchildren to take part in American-style pledges alongside the British flag was condemned as "half-baked" and "un-British".

Lord Goldsmith, the peer charged with carrying out a review for Gordon Brown, suggested children take oaths of allegiance to mark accession from being a student to becoming a UK citizen - an idea which appears similar to that held in America, where children stand at attention to the US flag with their right hand over the heart.

The peer also indicated that a special British "national day" should be established by 2012, when London hosts the Olympic Games. He also called for verses of God Save the Queen to be scrapped, and outdated treason laws reformed.

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Lord Goldsmith had claimed that a ceremony could mark the accession of a student from child to adult.

"The research does tend to show that there has been a diminution in national pride in the sense of belonging and it is a particularly generational thing," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "The citizenship ceremonies ... are a way of marking that passage from being a student of citizenship to being a citizen in practice."

In a separate proposal contained within the report, Lord Goldsmith also called for a new British national day to be established by 2012, adding that it could be a new public holiday.

He suggested launching the event alongside the London 2012 Olympics or what will be the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in the same year.

The former Attorney General added that the event could also be the focus for a special Honours List "which focuses exclusively on the achievements of ordinary citizens rather than on those of senior figures in public life".

He added: "In terms of a British national day, what may be beneficial is a new public holiday to celebrate the bond of shared citizenship."

Instead of sharing the bond of common culture. England sure has changed a lot in 40 years.