WTF is One Britain One Nation?

The UK has begun implementing quite a patriotic bit of "fun" for school children. What's this One Britain Great Nation all about?
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[@andymcl92]

Other problem with One Britain, One Nation Day: *the schools in Scotland stopped the week prior.* The kids were already on holiday. You'd think someone who cared for the unity of the country would have realised that...

[@MarmaladePlan3t]

Ok that’s f~~~ing funny

[@Theeny]

They also should have realised that education is devolved so Westminster has no authority to force this on the devolved nations but, you know, Tories gonna Tory!

[@alexanderwiles2003]

and in northern england most schools had broken up too

[@violetskies14]

🤣 that is hilarious. I'm not sure if the Welsh were in school either I'll have to ask my cousins. I don't know any schools that actually did it in England. My little brother didn't for one.

[@js66613]

XD XD XD

[@mattbush9673]

Evan, you'll be pleased to know that in classic British style we spent half our English lesson taking the piss out of it along with our teachers

[@elaineb7065]

I wish I could like this comment a thousand times!!! Your English class had exactly the right idea!!!

[@raingram]

Tell me you did an English lesson style deconstruction of each verse

[@heyjude6680]

@@raingram what is there to deconstruct

[@emdivine]

@@heyjude6680 poor rhyme scheme. Mistakes are fun to disassemble 🤣

[@GwynnDdu]

(this is such a late reply lol) I did the exact same thing in my English lesson in college. We spent basically the whole lesson taking the piss out of the song and especially the grammar/spelling mistakes on the website & leaflet. We were even making fun of how everything is off centre on the lyric PDF.

[@elaineb7065]

Only one thing has ever brought everybody in the UK together: mutual hatred of the same thing. Here, it's this song

[@nikkazs4424]

After all, they did unite the nations :))))

[@blufferfish0896]

I didn’t even know this existed honestly. Our school has mentioned this day a grand total of zero times. Honestly sounds like something straight out of a satire comedy show. Whoever made this surely didn’t actually believe anyone would sing it XD

[@oliverqueen5883]

Same lol

[@owenfautley]

@@gsurfer04 In Bradford to be specific.

[@lynnhamps7052]

@@gsurfer04 You can tell!

[@colonyofrats4193]

I think it was only for primary school kids

[@dominadors4795]

Insight from a teacher : The email requesting nationalist songs be sung in school was received by your headteacher, and ignored.

[@ynni]

This had the complete opposite effect in Wales where it lead to schools up and down the country singing the Welsh national anthem instead

[@joshuacarre06]

Cymru am byth

[@Theeny]

Annibyniaeth!

[@lorlornana8891]

Whoop!!! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@aliceangel03]

GOOD 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@violetskies14]

It was mainly ignored outside of the south in England. I didn't even hear about it until afterwards and my little brothers school didn't do it. He is allowed to come in at 11 tomorrow though because of the football.

[@MasakoX]

My thoughts on it: And the crowd goes MILD!

[@Jino-yl3uk]

oh damn hi!

[@iceygamingrulez]

I would expect vegeta to comment on a video about pride

[@HeyitsHannah93]

It's literally in the DFE COVID guidance that schools should not be singing together to reduce the transmission but apparently this is doesn't matter on one Britain one nation day! I work in a primary school and we did not take part - most staff didn't even realise this was a thing! Lots of parents requested that if we did take part that their child was not to be involved!

[@JustElleYapping]

I only heard it through my stepdad who was joking about it. I go to secondary school and it was never done- bare in mind we never sing anyway. But my brother who goes primary never did either.

[@sgl0d10n]

This was absolutely laughed at in Wales. Most schools did the Welsh national anthem instead lmao

[@OhItsJustKim]

i briefly heard it on radio cymru and was SO CONFUSED for a second thinking they were either voluntarily playing it, or had a gun to their heads...but then it stopped after a minute and it turned out they were discussing indoctrination and brainwashing lol

[@Samrenreddy11]

So why is that kind of patriotism allowed, but not UK-wide patriotism? What is actually the difference between making kids sing the Welsh anthem over making them sing this song? Just playing devil’s advocate here.

[@bethanybaljak1]

@@Samrenreddy11 nobody asked you to :)

[@timflatus]

Diwnio!

[@lewiswhitling1351]

@@Samrenreddy11 I suppose national anthems are so traditional at this point that it's more a way of getting a crowd of people feeling good with a shared experience.. whereas this feels like a government trying to "educate" me into feeling national pride? I.e. one feels more grassroots, and the other is just state interference.

[@ciarasalisbury5464]

One Britain One Nation chant is eerily like Francisco Franco’s idea of one Spain united under a joint culture whilst blotting out traditions in Catalonia, Basque County and Galicia. It’s scary that the government wants primary school children to sing this.

[@scientic]

Or, you know, Ein Reich?

[@BigusA]

The "Strong nation, homogeneous nation" line was eventually left out of the chorus because it seemed a bit too obvious...

[@alistairt7544]

It's like their first phase. Once everyone is already forced into doing it, they'll continue with phase two of "patriotic" indoctrination lmao

[@Sukiebleuuuu]

Especially bad because there are 4 nations in the uk and 3 in Britain

[@lynnejamieson2063]

A song designed to be sung up and down the U.K. by children in schools on a specific date to reflect how united we are…and then Westminster decided on a date that was the day after many (if not all) of the schools in Scotland broke up for the summer. Well done Tories, for once again showing just how many f’s you give about Scotland. You couldn’t even take 30 seconds to google it? No adult should have been subjected to the horror that is those lyrics, let alone children. The lyrics are even more angering when you take into consideration how much the current government are trying to prevent people from being able to move here from other countries. I hate forced nationalism. Someone can be wholeheartedly patriotic and still see what’s wrong with their country. People should never be forced to pretend that everything is perfect, especially as perfection generally means that there is something seriously wrong being hidden from you…exceeds expectations is always the best to aim for (in my opinion).

[@Theeny]

The absolute irony of completely ignoring devolved powers by trying to force them to sing about how great the union is!

[@lynnejamieson2063]

@@Theeny a song that doesn’t really state anything, let alone what makes the union great, followed by ultimately showing that they know nothing outside of the country that they reside in.

[@alexanderwiles2003]

not just scotland in england the north has all ready broken up and some of the south too

[@aperson.7738]

To be fair I don’t think Nicola sturgeon would’ve allowed it

[@lynnejamieson2063]

@@alexanderwiles2003 I didn’t know that any schools in England broke up in June, so I apologise for that. I live in the north east of England and one of my siblings that live nearby and is a teacher but I’m sure they break up mid July.

[@LynxChan]

"We are one Britain" The day they selected for schools to celebrate "one Britain" falls during Summer holidays in Scotland Britain is a geographic term that does not include Northern Ireland So let's be clear, by "We are one Britain" they just mean "We are one England"

[@lorlornana8891]

Yuuuuup

[@TrijitSaha]

hey don't forget good ol' Wales.

[@flappetyflippers]

Great Britain refers to the largest island, but 'Britain' can refer to the UK; people from the UK are British (even if they're from Northern Ireland).

[@oo4758]

@@flappetyflippers Where's this?? Is that a universal thing/rule that Irish are called British? cause it isn't where I'm from.

[@violetskies14]

Except half of the North were already out too and we completely ignored it in the Midlands. But we are one South of England isn't so catchy lol.

[@MadSpacePig]

Of all the weird things the gov have been borrowing from America lately, the one that scared me the most was when they started wearing those tiny Union Jack badges like all politicians are obliged to in America.

[@girlofanimation]

I mean, the US was founded by British ppl

[@SeanShimamoto]

Our politicians are obliged to wear tiny Union Jack 🇬🇧 badges? The only American politicians who should be wearing Union Jack 🇬🇧 badges, are Hawai’i politicians…try googling “Hawai’i state flag”. 😁

[@kannonball5789]

Uh, last I checked the U.S. wasn't apart of the U.K. We got the Star-Spangled Banner not the Union Jack.

[@Becky6638]

I work in a primary school and we seemed to have completely missed this, absolutely nothing was ever mentioned about it 😂

[@nikkazs4424]

Sure you feel sorry :))))

[@WhichDoctor1]

This kind of enforced, overt patriotism seems like the most unBritish thing possible to me. It’s like the people who came up with this looked at the British people and thought “Britain is soo great, it’s a real shame it isn’t more like America. If we brits were more like Americans we’d appreciate being British so much more” Which is an odd thought to have really 😂

[@hazelangus]

The government has been turning us into America for many years now.

[@elaineb7065]

@@hazelangus & Ellial tell me about it!!! I wonder when they'll start calling this place the United States Of Britain???

[@Tenebraeification]

I feel like this could backfire badly if the people in Scotland and Wales don't play along and makes this song less about the one Kingdom and more like the separate nations that England dominates.

[@Miss_Lexisaurus]

So much this!

[@peepiepo]

It's funny you should say that considering that it was made by recent immigrants. Your problem is with immigrants coming over here and being unBritish.

[@myacc7662]

Short insight from Germany: here patriotism is highly discouraged and I believe it helps, to critically reflect the past better. I am a white German but it’s pure luck that made me grow up that privileged. It is important to reflect the Nazi regime as well as colonialism and the current international standing Germany has, to decide if one wants to be patriotic. And tbh why would I want that? I don’t have a bond to the nation I was born in sure I receive a lot of privileges through it but I don’t think I owe Germany patriotism maybe I owe it critical thinking.

[@WolfgangDoW]

Patriotism is wanting your country to do better and be better Nationalism is believing your country is already the best Germany does not ban patriotism, it bans nationalism. Important difference America is a great example of nationalism labeled wrongly as patriotism Understanding the difference between patriotism and nationalism is critical, and why America is getting worse. Labelling any criticism (even constructive) as "unpatriotic", no it's very patriotic, just not nationalist I'm British, and patriotic, I HATE Brexit with a passion and hate the direction this country has been going in over the last several years/decades. I want my country to care about its peoples including the migrant workers who are vital for our economy. I want my country to care about disabled people, and hate that the European Court of Human Rights declared the DWP (benefits office) as inhumane. I hate so many things about the UK, cos I care about it! This is patriotism, not nationalism. Important difference

[@angelikaskoroszyn8495]

Idk how it's in Germany but in Poland there's a belief that patriotism and nationalism are not the same. A patriot questions goverment because this is how you your country can go in the right direction. A nationalist is a blind ideologue with very narrow vision of what's a "real" Pole In the end pride will always be a messy thing. It's important for building identity. It's one of those things cults try to destroy so they can mold you to their liking. But at the same time it's easy for politicians to use the already existing identities for their personal gain

[@kooltom4]

@@WolfgangDoW really insightful comment, thanks.

[@billswifejo]

Perhaps there could be a song called Critical Thinking, This would fit much better with the British past time of taking the piss out of ourselves.

[@mousemac4317]

They waited till most Scottish schools had finished for summer, so there was no way they could join in. Yeah very united!

[@Alan_Mac]

What we have learned in recent days is that Scottish schools are pretty-much pointless anyway.

[@drewkrieky7529]

The current "patriotism" I have with my classmates goes like this. Me: "Boris Johnson is a muffin" The guy that sits next to me ( you know who you are ): "So your more aligned with Keir Starmer?" Me: "No he is a wetwipe" TGTSNTM(YKWYA): "so then who do you support?" Me: "IDK bloody count binface lmao."

[@vacuumdiagram]

Tbf, Count Binface had some of the best policies when he ran for mayor - even including the pisstake ones! 😂😂😂

[@Stephen-Fox]

I dunno... ...What did muffins and wetwipes do to you to deserve being compared to Johnson and Starmer?

[@AndrewHalliwell]

@@Stephen-Fox arse wipe is a less polite version... In Bojo's case, one made of nettles.

[@elaineb7065]

Liked for using wetwipe as an insult xxx

[@ThePixel1983]

The droning version of the chorus sounds fitting for a dystopic film.

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

Yeah... and the "Strong Britain, Great Nation" thing sound militaristic to my ears.

[@niamhworrell3334]

My granny showing me and my granddad this song: isn’t this awful?? My grandad: *hums the song for the rest of the day* Me: 👁👄👁

[@eimearhayes687]

My Dad showed me and was saying how bad it was and how it was propaganda. Later he was humming it. We’re Irish. I’m scared.

[@niamhworrell3334]

@@eimearhayes687 I’m Irish too lol

[@queenapryllm8454]

@@eimearhayes687 why not in mean why I live in ireland too. But why??

[@joclark4619]

As a scot, this triggers me beyond belief.

[@joshsheff7189]

You mean as a nationalist. There are the same if not more Scots who wish to be in the Union than not.

[@joclark4619]

@@joshsheff7189 What makes you think I’m a nationalist? I know Scots that don’t want independence that still get frustrated at such things

[@thatbrummieguy]

@@joclark4619 starting with 'as a Scot' implies some kind of relevance to the trigger

[@ivoindustries728]

@@thatbrummieguy this song was released as something to sing in UK schools after Scotland had already finished, even pro unionists who like the song can see they forgot about Scotland when releasing it

[@thatbrummieguy]

@@ivoindustries728 ...and there's the relevance.

[@mylescoles]

Im British and I've litterally never heard of this...

[@caitlin329]

It was trending on twitter relatively recently. Government endorsed it so it got attention.

[@suzannax]

Same, I missed this entirely

[@stras676]

It trended heavily in Scotland because they scheduled it for when Scottish School kids are on holiday - Talking about a day of unity celebrated in schools - while at the same time doing the usual thing of assuming the whole of UK works to England's schedule. Never goes down well.

[@Aima952]

Teacher Twitter was highly critical of the idea (with heavy British humour)... But nobody I know IRL (including all of the teachers I know) took it seriously enough to even have a conversation agreeing not to bother getting involved...

[@Bailes98]

This idea completely fell flat in Wales (well seemingly everywhere else as well) where school children sung Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Welsh national anthem) instead to inspire the Welsh team at the Euros

[@trans_boy_kole7640]

Go Wales, yechid dda I pawb ac cymry am byth

[@nikkazs4424]

:)))))

[@ottakringcalling]

Government: "One Britain, One Nation" Everyone in Scotland: "Well, mate..."

[@michaelwtm]

"One Britain, One Nation" sounds LITERALLY like Chinese-style propaganda

[@user-zn1dy4ys7c]

this reminds me (as a germany) of "one folk one Führer". kinda worrying:/

[@Mogeli]

One country, Two systems...

[@NicholasJH96]

No tories is following USA Propaganda

[@DragonriderEpona]

I had to think of Queen's "One Vision", only they were several decades ahead of their time wit this song. (It makes actually fun of several things)

[@Ausholliday15]

@@user-zn1dy4ys7c like Maga

[@mrman991]

HEY! Don't make fun of the poem Johnson wrote, he spent all morning on it!

[@c0ronariu5]

Are you sure Dylyn didn’t ghostwrite it.

[@RowanWolf22]

For “accepting differences” this country sure is racist and xenophobic 🤣 that comes from someone who wasn’t born here but basically spent all my life here.

[@caitlin329]

They took a concept which in a way could've initially been almost nice and just fucked it. Pretty English tbh. Especially forgetting that the rest of Britain exists.

[@caitlin329]

And including NI in 'Britain' is ... Controversial.

[@caitlin329]

Idk how many people believe that the lyrics were actually written by children from Bradford. I don't think it's impossible. But you have to wonder what the brief was, and how much guidance they had 😬

[@alexander9703]

@@caitlin329 A citizen of the United Kingdom is a British citizen. Britain is a short form name of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is in the United Kingdom, so calling the whole country Britain is not controversial, it's a statement of reality

[@caitlin329]

@@alexander9703 No. Britain≠UK. UK- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Britain- England, Scotland & Wales British Isles- the islands of Britain & Ireland (although don't go around calling Irish people British) Some people in NI will ID as British; some won't.

[@JustSitAndLaugh]

@@alexander9703 Maybe it is all called Britain as a sort of nickname, but it's not technically true as the UK is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Therefore the UK is made up of GB and NI. GB is part of the UK and so is NI, but NI isn't part of GB.

[@carolinemcgovern4488]

Well, we WERE united on that day..... In only in making fun of Matt Hancock.

[@lordrork5884]

The tradition of a senior politician caught banging his assistant is still going strong. British values at their best...

[@jaymercer4692]

My sixth form recently had a tutor time taken up by a lesson about “what it means to be British” but thankfully all of us were old enough to spot the blatant British propaganda. So it mostly consisted of us making fun of British people. I just fear that the younger children won’t be able to understand that. The one British value I actually am proud of is the idea that talking about how good your country is, is about as abhorrent and arrogant as can be. I’d rather be from a place that laughs about its flaws and acknowledges them and quietly is thankful for its positives. Than one that won’t shut up about why it’s good and never considers why that might not always be true. As a side note my school and no school I am aware of actually has done anything British related besides that one incident with the sixth from students and nothing like that has happened since or before and I was never aware of this One Britain, One Nation stuff. It sounds like the stuff the EDL chant.

[@mayamelie20]

We had the same! We thought it was just ridiculous so we used it to tell our teachers about the issues we have with the country (and our sixth form) so it totally backfired on them 😂

[@alexanderwiles2003]

all schools are required to do British values talks same as others about all sorts of stuff but the British values one is actually more about saying how Britain doesn't support like the EDL and racism and how its trying to be conclusive not saying they succeed at all but that's what the British values talks are support to be about

[@nodramapls4366]

"What it means to be British"? Oh my...I wouldn´t know what to write on such a question at all! What does it mean that I´m German? I uhm....I guess it means I was born and raised in Germany? lmao

[@vacuumdiagram]

@@alexanderwiles2003 Education is devolved - so when you say 'all schools', that will only apply to the part of Britain that you are referring to, and not any of the other 3 parts...

[@Christopher_175]

Schools in parts of Scotland had their last day of term before the 25th so couldn't take part even if they wanted

[@Theamazingmanderzz]

Irony of this song/day if it’s meant to be about unity, the majority of Scottish schools were already on summer holidays 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@Alan_Mac]

Scottish schools are pretty-much pointless anyway

[@Martin-rh6bn]

@@Alan_Mac Found the tory!

[@jmurray1110]

Also Northern Ireland

[@Alan_Mac]

@@jellybeans3994 The Nats have ruined secondary education and maybe they'll do the same to the 2 or 3 Unis which are pretty decent.

[@Alan_Mac]

@@Martin-rh6bn Eh? Scottish secondary education is shite. Pointing this out doesn't make me anything but a concerned voter.

[@horat7]

The song sounds like it was written by children because it was written by primary school children in Bradford, in an attempt to unite people. The govenment picked it up afterwards

[@rianmilit]

That school and whatever teachers orchestrated this should be looked into, it's disturbing.

[@Lookatmeshine]

This is not something a small child would come up with by themselves without some kind of adult influence.

[@hazelangus]

Urgh. Like "clap for carers", which was originally something really sweet that we decided to do, until the government took control of it and started decreeing who we should clap for and when.

[@mrflibble1259]

Oh for god sake, as if I didn't have to apologize for Bradford enough. I'm so sorry guys, I swear we're not all this bad.

[@mrflibble1259]

@silverfoxeater as a Bradfordian - learn to take a joke please. You're not doing wonders for the idea that we're all assholes.

[@13lizby85]

As someone who was brought up in Belfast, this song makes me uncomfortable because Northern Ireland isn't included. (someone from the tory party also said Northern Ireland was a small price to pay for brexit, that felt like a betrayal to me... Mind you I didn't vote for them anyway, I live in England BTW ) Other than that the song makes me uncomfortable on a whole. I don't like it.

[@He_who_rides_many_winds]

Boi we need a new government so does Scotland they’re dividing us brothers of the Isles apart we need to stick together 👊. Love from England mate 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

[@jmurray1110]

We need some good politicians everywhere most are bastards and the good ones aren’t getting brides enough for the rich to put them in power We need a complete dismantle and reconstruction of our political and economic systems

[@alexsterio8258]

They’re planning to put an 8 storey union jack in Cardiff city centre 😫 although there’s now a petition against it with 18000 signatures so far. If they do put it up I’m sure it will be a lovely target for vandalism.

[@grahamleiper1538]

They've only felt the need to do it in Cardiff and Edinburgh. Somebody apparently thinks it's a good idea?

[@nikkazs4424]

"Lovely target" :))))))

[@gaymermoment]

Kinda sounds like the uk is afraid of scotland, and northern ireland leaving

[@sominboy2757]

Scotland i get bc of oil, but what does Northern Ireland and wales provide? Or is England just holding onto them because Queen Elizibeth?

[@gaymermoment]

@@sominboy2757 would you rather have a bigger country and look powerful, or have a smaller country that, to other ones, lookd like it's falling apart

[@sominboy2757]

@@gaymermoment england by far has the largest population out of the 4. The combined population of the other 3 dosent even reach 10 million i dont think. Land mass in the modern world makes no difference wether a country is powerful or not. Look at Singapore and Bermuda. Theyre tiny dots on the global map yet are 2 of the most successful nations in the world

[@yusufalraqi4903]

In Northern Ireland’s case, Westminster aren’t that interested in it, but the Unionists there are more patriotic than the rest of the UK.

[@grahamleiper1538]

The way Boris is going he'll be lucky to keep Cornwall.

[@iDKIdk-tn2xm]

Luckily my school didn’t make us do this. I don’t have any issue with patriotism but this feels a bit much especially considering the year and a half we’ve just had. Hopefully this is just some weird one time thing that will fade out. Ps your mic sounds very clear

[@Bagofnowt]

This isn't patriotism, it's fanatic jingoism

[@iDKIdk-tn2xm]

@@Bagofnowt Yeah, I fully agree

[@TorianTammas]

This is just the beginning of the Tory dictatorship.

[@iDKIdk-tn2xm]

@@TorianTammas I really hope not....

[@Hannah-hx5sp]

scotland potentially leaving, closer to a united ireland than literally *ever* before..... yeah workin out well for ya england lol

[@jimmyrobertson4264]

reckon if we get some more people involved with indywales we could be the united celtic nations of my dreams and collectively tell england to fuck off?

[@Hannah-hx5sp]

​@@jimmyrobertson4264 the celtic union of craic

[@NeroPop]

i just love how they did this to "promote unity" totally forgetting that scotlands schools would already be closed, northern ireland is not a part of great britain and education is a devolved power so wales just said no.

[@charlottehardman3669]

We had a woman shout at us in the pub last night for not standing up for the national anthem at the start of the Euro 2020 football… there are things I am proud of that we have in the UK, namely the NHS and our gun laws, but standing for the anthem still feels like blind patriotism that makes me wholly uncomfortable 😳

[@dominika1348]

I hate idiots like them. It makes me so uncomfortable and it's so annoying that things like that still happen. People don't know what nationalism is.

[@hazelangus]

Hm... **strokes imaginary beard** This calls for some strongly-worded Gilbert and Sullivan. "We are the very model of a firm and moral rectitude, We show ourselves in confidence, the classic British attitude, We drink our tea with steady calm and soldier on with fortitude.... ...aaaand carefully ignore the history we'd rather not include".

[@gerardacronin334]

Brilliant!

[@hazelangus]

@@gerardacronin334 Thanks! Thought of another verse today... I got bored. XD "Britannia rules the waves once more and all our fish belong to us They joyfully expire underneath a flag of Britishness Our strong and stable leadership has cunning plans of genius.... .....as long as we don't notice all the savage public sector cuts".

[@PatrickMapper]

As a British secondary schooler, I would stand there and cross my arms silent if they made us sing it. Like the guy who didn’t salute Hitler, just less extreme lol

[@c0ronariu5]

You could kneel instead

[@RedMW]

Less like that, as everyone won't sing and there'll just be awkward silence

[@oliverqueen5883]

Hello and Welcome back to a man who is going to get arrested for not saying “It’s Coming Home” properly.

[@caitlin329]

*Three Lions 😉

[@airqx2808]

@@caitlin329 on a shirt Jules Rimet still gleaming

[@leannelow5788]

It is not a f***ing football song, its an anti-racism song morons

[@caitlin329]

@@leannelow5788 Three Lions isn't a football song ‽

[@lucie4185]

@@caitlin329 you would think that the football song about football that the Football Association asked 3 football fans to write as an official football song for the English Football team would be about football wouldn't you. 🤔

[@apollo5766]

I'm pretty sure school children wrote the lyrics, so it explains a lot

[@MOOGLEDREAMER]

I heard that too

[@blucksy7229]

Yep written by primary school students

[@AaronMcHale]

My lord… It sounds like Boris Johnston wrote it one Sunday night when he was drunk… 😂

[@tylerbeaumont]

You don’t need to convince English kids that England is nice, unless you plan on using them as soldiers in your wars or as mindless workers in your factories. Propagandising kids who don’t even understand the rain cycle or basic geography is unnecessary at best, malicious at worse, and silencing Welsh, Scottish, highlander and Irish independent culture seems very dodgy too. Shame on parliament for this blatant attempt at cultural assimilation, clearly a ploy to help prevent independence movements in young people as far as I’m concerned

[@Alan_Mac]

Scottish culture silenced? Who the fuck did this and when?

[@James_Haskell]

I just don’t like the way that patriotism automatically creates an in group and an out group. Where do you draw the line of who is British and who isn’t?

[@Inucroft]

You can be Patriotic, but this is just Nationalism

[@gemoftheocean]

Really simple, if you were born there or naturalized, with the exception of children of diplomatic personnel from other countries.

[@James_Haskell]

@@gemoftheocean the point in my question was to show that not everyone will agree with where that line is drawn, for some it will be accent, for others it will be skin colour, amongst other attributes. Patriotism means something different to everyone.

[@kayew5492]

Precisely. You can't, or rather you'd end up with lines going every which way.

[@alistairt7544]

We can't even come together on the exact borders of the _Midlands_ , what more about being "British"😂

[@lukehardwick3611]

When I saw the title of this video I thought it was gonna be about a far right group who doesn’t want him in the country cus I’ve never heard of it before. Honestly one Britain one nation is a terrible name because the first thing that popped into my head was the EDL

[@21Kyzix12]

As soon as I heard "to unite all people" all I could think about was the Team Rocket motto.

[@lania2246]

to denounce the evils of truth and love! to extend our reach to the stars above!

[@rasmusn.e.m1064]

This might not be completely relevant to this, but the line "so many races, standing in the same place" would have been way more controversial (here) in Denmark than the "and we have one dream" line, which Evan reacted the strongest to. I guess the cultural differences show their faces there: Americans don't like to feel like they conform just to conform, while Danes happily follow the rules because they are the rules and because they trust that the rules were made in good faith. The more interesting difference is that being accepting of differences means recognising the differences between categories of people in the US, while in Denmark, it means that belief in human races is considered racist because we assume everyone is basically the same and then accept individual rather than group-based differences from there. Just an interesting observation I had. Anyway, congratulations on reaching the finale, England. Good luck ;)

[@cheshirecat5416]

In Germany, the races-line would probably be the biggest problem, too. We are trying to abolish the term 'race' itself, since we all belong to one and the same human race. Instead, you would talk about different 'ethnic groups' in Germany.

[@grail143]

To be fair... A lot of our rules were not made in good faith. Also, most of the Americans seen in the news in other countries are in a slim minority... that are both distrustful of the government and completely frightened that any updates of laws or systems will impede on their own lifestyles so they neither follow the rules nor support changing them... And they are right on both counts. But also, morally shite... We would be so much further in class/race relations (and so many other things) if a) the majority of people understood they have a voice and b) we allowed 51% to actually move legislation.

[@rasmusn.e.m1064]

​@@grail143 I completely agree. To be clear, I am not stating that one is more right than the other. Sorry for this long-long rant. I understand if you don't want to read it, but you might learn something about a different political culture, or might have something to add or correct, so if you're curious, please go on. :) Tl;dr: for the next thing I wrote: What I'm essentially saying is that Denmark has some good institutions (the legal system, the penal system, the tax-funded media and tax-funded social and medical security) that work because everyone benefits from them, so the people working for these institutions aren't cynically modifying the system for their own benefit because that would also hurt themselves. However, the factors that lead to these institutions have also predisposed Danish society to the problems it is facing currently: As for the factors: A lot of the same-think of Danish culture stems from the fact that the cultural elite of rich, white males had basically no opposition until extremely recently, and when the working class developed due to industrialism, they (the elite) saw it as the easier option to allow for unions and state-funded social security to develop so that the pay-off of violent communist revolution would be minimal and more people would end up sharing their viewpoints and status, thus bolstering the political power of the group resulting in an essentially monocultural society. Basically the same thing Bismarck did in Germany until he was replaced by leaders who saw the world differently. The same story was true about women in the workplace: Unequal pay is practically unheard of today, but we still have problems of historically female occupations having lower wages, so there is still a problematic disparity. In terms of accepting differences, the problem now is that legislation surrounding immigration in the 70's and 80's did not foresee that Danes have a very narrow understanding of common sense and culture due to our ethnic homogeneity, very limited cultural elite, and very limited immigration following a disastrous geopolitical and financial 19th century. This has meant that Danes do not mix easily with a lot of cultures and prefer to stick to themselves, which means that when Turks went to work here and many stayed and brought their families with them because of a string of shitty political and economical situations in the motherland (look up '1980, 1970's, or even 1960's, Turkish coup d'état' and you'll know), nobody was prepared for the two cultures not to mix, nobody knew what problems this could cause, and nobody knew how to solve them. These problems will no doubt sound extremely familiar to you: Alienation, disproportionally high crime rates among young men, bigotry, ghettoization, etc. To this day, we haven't figured out a single solution to these problems and meanwhile, the problems are spreading as immigrants and refugees have come from other countries (because not helping refugees just because it doesn't really fit in your schedule is a bit of a dick move) and Danish people are becoming increasingly intolerant and insular in their definition of what Danish culture is. This is not helped by the fact that the wage gap is increasing due to the cultural elite being split in half, so that there is now largely a cultural and an economical elite split between the older ideals of Scandinavian leftist cultural radicalism (still quite strong in Sweden, though it's mixing with third-wave feminism there) and Americanized neoliberalism respectively, with the latter having more and more political influence and the former less and less. The wage gap shows itself when both of these elites applaud immigration because of "cultural enrichment" (a bullshit word because they don't mean it, not because it doesn't occur) and economic benefit to capitalists because of lower wages, while the less well-off shun immigration because their work is being devalued by immigrants willing to work for much lower wages, which is further amplified by a surge in xenophobia due to 9/11 and the resulting shift in the otherwise impressively neutral tax-funded media to largely bad faith representations of people from the Middle East in order to appease critics of the necessary ass-licking support of the US invasion of Afghanistan, -necessary because being a tiny country situated as the only thing stopping a post-Soviet vengeful Russia with cultural support from large minorities in the Baltic states from a having ready access to the Atlantic almost makes strong NATO ties mandatory if you want to keep your country yours, even if Americanization is slowly undermining the ideological foundation of your nation by introducing young people to cultural norms that are the result of a socially more problematic past than the one you grew up in. One example is that young people are beginning to pick up on the idea of races, which was practically eliminated from the Danish vocabulary in 60's and 70's because it wasn't necessary to a society that did not experience the systemic discrimination of Apartheid and post-reconstruction era America. Another one is the idea of null-debate and de-platforming, which has never been necessary in Danish politics because, again, suppression of the voices of minorities hasn't been as big as it has in other places. All it does at this point is exoticise beliefs that are not discussed in media and discourage debate in a vicious cycle that ultimately ends up destroying cultural integrity and trust in institutions and neutrality.

[@grail143]

@@rasmusn.e.m1064 amazing! I love that you did that! ❤️

[@MikeRees]

Not seeing race doesn't resolve issues surrounding race though, it just ignores them. We did the whole colourblind thing before in the UK and things just got quietly worse because no one would talk about it

[@purpledevilr7463]

Honestly, the lyrics are more multicultural and diversity focused then I expected. I don’t see that as much of a British song, usually it’s English focused domination of the world and being better than anyone else.

[@caitlin329]

It was supposedly written by Bradford schoolkids. It seems to have started as a slightly different thing.

[@Alan_Mac]

"English focused domination of the world " was largely down to the Scots who dominated Empire.

[@elizabethghent194]

@@Alan_Mac The Scots certainly did their share of colonization under the British banner but mainly in the armies as did many Irish, the British army was full of Scots and Irish soldiers and the Scottish regiments were notorious fighters. I am a Scot, so not sure if I am proud or not.

[@Alan_Mac]

@@elizabethghent194 Yes, Scottish regiments were disproportionately represented in the army but to say that was our main contribution to Empire is a piece of nonsense. Where we dominated was, well, pretty much everything else from administration, trade, commerce, manufacturing (including ships and locomotives), banking, asset finance, politics, manufacturing and missionary work covering medicine, education and church planting. A few (a tiny few) highlights include domination of the East India Company - being responsible for the opium wars - and the Hudson's Bay Company. The establishment of HSBC and Jardine Matheson in HK. We dominated global tobacco, cotton and sugar production and processing with, at one point J & P Coats Ltd, in Paisley being the third-largest company in the world by market capitalisation - the Apple of its day. We financed Empire with banks like the British Linen Bank, Drummond's and Coutts financing investment across the globe - especially in plantations in India, The Windies and the US Southern States. We set up schools and hospitals across the new world - many of which are still extant. We also aimed to convert the savage and had a huge church planting programme that spread Presybterianism across the world. We dominated The Colonial Office with about 1/3rd of colonial administrators being Scots from the mid 19th C and we were a big presence at a higher level with, for example, the first three governors-general of India being Scots, the Earl of Hopetoun being first Gov Gen of Australia and John A Macdonald being the first PM of Canada. We were the best at slavey things and were the first to globalise slavery with jute produced in Scottish plantations in India sent on Scottish ships to Dundee for processing where it was then sent as packaging (through Glasgow) to Scottish tobacco plantations in The Carolinas to be returned (on Scottish ships) to be processed in Glasgow. All financed by Scottish banks. The 'Negro cloth' worn by slaves? All produced in Dundee and shipped to Scottish-owned plantations in the Caribbean and US southern states. Sorry for writing an essay - and this is not even scratching the surface - but Empire was, from top to bottom, much more a Scottish project than it ever was an English one.

[@elizabethghent194]

@@Alan_Mac Thank you for taking the time to write this excellent essay regarding the role of Scots in British Colonialism. You really covered so many aspects, some of which I was aware of but I had never read it all gathered up in such a concise piece. You certainly put my comment to shame, although there was some truth in it. Actually I had just been watching a video about the Indian mutiny or revolt, the massacres and the retaliation by the British army. All horrible events so it was fresh in my mind. I would be interested in reading any more of your work regarding the Scottish domination of the Colonial era. You clearly have a great deal of information. I was born and lived in Edinburgh but have lived in Canada for the past twenty four years. There is no doubt about the Scots influence on the development of Canada from the pioneer immigrants to Sir John A Macdonald himself. This was partly due to the high level of literacy and education of Scots. But I will say no more, I am keen to learn. Thank you Alan Mac.

[@benswallow4985]

How have I never heard this dear Lord I will never allow my child to sing this. It feels waay to ‘patriotic’ if not brainwashing.

[@roberthindle5146]

As a Brit, I protest at any notion that we have "love" in our hearts. It's mostly tea and/or cholesterol.

[@TadeuszCantwell]

Glad it wasn't just me seeing insidious Empire propaganda in the line about expanding the shores.

[@neilonguitar6258]

Hi, this song was written by school children at St John’s CE Primary School, in Bradford. So you were right. It was written by 7 year olds. One Britain One Nation was set up by ex policeman Kash Singh to promote unity and pride among Britain’s ethnic minority communities.

[@Theeny]

How to fix the union: respect devolved nations Westminster: We demand you sing this song about how great the union is Devolved nations: ... no Westminster: >.

[@TheUnarmedPanda]

"We are Britain, And we have one dream, To unite all people, In one great team" Yeah, we tried that already, Love live the empire I suppose.

[@OscatJ]

After that chorus I keep expecting: "Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light, Surrender now or prepare to fight"

[@lordpiggington5259]

Welcome back to One Evan One Edinger

[@Mr-Bean.]

Can't say that if I clone Evan

[@lordpiggington5259]

@@Mr-Bean. Then it would be We are One Evan We are On Edinger

[@crystalkirlia4553]

The song: "to unite all people" Me: "within our nation..." My brain: TO DENOUNCE THE EVILS OF TRUTH AND LOVE! TO EXPAND OUR REACH TO THE STARS ABOVE! JESSIE! JAMES! MEOWTH THATS RIGHT! My brain went straight to team rocket 🤣🤣🤣 anyone else?

[@DomenBremecXCVI]

"Strong Britain, Great nation!" So... UK's government has excepted that NI should not play a part in this nation of the British? Might piss some people off, specially those that moved from Labour to Tory because the latter was more unionist.

[@naomilovessquirt]

I have to admit though, can you imagine Northern Irish schoolchildren singing this song 😂 plus the UK is the United Kingdom and Great Britain and Northern Ireland- so if you're northern Irish you're not British *technically* I see what you mean though, a bit hypocritical

[@loreleihillard5078]

Obviously they want to reunite Ireland again, and keep separate from Britain

[@LovelyLawla]

@@naomilovessquirt and you can live in NI all your life and not be a "British citizen" (ie: passport), so yea. Ie: I live in the UK, was born here, went to school here and now work here (thus paying taxes) and yet I am Irish. And I am sure others who have immigrated or their parents/grandparents did, who might (or maybe not, I don't know the legal stuff) have citizenship to allow them to work/live here, but don't consider themselves British. It even excluded anyone who considers themselves dual nationality, because it comes across as very "elitist" like being British is better than everything else!

[@rosiebristow9619]

Britain: *leaves the EU* The Government: “we have one dream to unite all people in one great team” Hmmmmmm…

[@iainrollo3525]

Must be the British Lions Rugby team their talking about?!!!???

[@AndrewHalliwell]

Why does that, on thinking about it, sound like something team Rocket might chant?

[@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t]

I've not heard the actual melody they're suggesting, but nothing will convince me it's not "soft kitty".

[@AlienValkyrie]

My first thought when I heard those lyrics was - if you want something to unify people, a common banner to rally under, put the focus on what you _want_ to be. Go with "let's open our doors" rather than "we've opened our doors" and "let's celebrate our differences" rather than "we celebrate our differences". Because the former is a call to action, acknowledging that there are cases where those things aren't being done as much as they should be - whereas the latter is propaganda, where any acknowledgement of the imperfect reality tends to be seen as an attack. EDIT: Also the mic rocks \m/

[@floppymcdankus2905]

"one Britain one nation" but if I remember correctly now isn't Britain 3 nations XD technically ya know since while not independent Scotland and Wales are still separate countries... this song is a joke but it's kinda scary that it's to be sang by school kids

[@elizabethgrosvenor153]

"Britain" also includes territories (is that the correct word?) like Isle of Mann, Channel Islands, etc, that are not part of UK...

[@elaineb7065]

@@elizabethgrosvenor153 And then, of course, there's Northern ireland

[@Sailorella]

The song kind of sounds like a Team Rocket speech. I legit thought for a second that "To Unite all people" that's going to lead into "within our nation"

[@Missiletainn]

the first chorus just made me think: Prepare for trouble! - Make it double To protect to world from devastation - To Unite all people within our nation To denounce the evil of truth and love - To extend our reach to the stars above..

[@allenculpepper9553]

Nothing like knife crime to show the love in one’s heart.

[@alistairt7544]

More like "We are one island under England" 🙄 or in the words from the US' "Pledge of Allegiance", " One nation, under -God- *England* " 😂

[@nickgoult981]

I can’t believe Northern Ireland is excluded by technically not being in Britain. I suppose United Kingdom doesn’t have the same ring to it

[@Theeny]

Westminster: fighting for the union while completely oblivious to the other nations in it!

[@flappetyflippers]

Well tbf Britain is used interchangeably with the UK and people from here are called British regardless of if they're NI or not so...

[@ecocentriclife]

I'm surprised he didn't nail down on the most terrifying lyric of all in this. I can't be the only one hearing "unite all people in one great team" and cringing in horror at the overt declaration that apparently Britain wants to resume that whole global domination thing...

[@violetskies14]

Yup it doesn't sound great after the whole taking over 1/3 of the world thing.

[@archimistry4454]

The way he butchered it's coming home tho 😂😂 IT'S COMING HOME LADS

[@oliverqueen5883]

So true lol

[@Tom_Hillman]

fr 😭😭😭

[@jimmytimote]

poorly aged comment

[@socialismandrevolution8299]

As a matter of fact, it did not come home

[@billmayor8567]

No it’s not😔

[@eriktorgler7748]

"A tremendous desire to help others" as the UK cuts its entire foreign aid budget.

[@dclore]

The first verse sounds like someone was watching Pokemon when they wrote it and stole some of Team Rocket's song!!!

[@jackafishfan1931]

I'm scottish and I've never heard of this ever Kind of makes sense

[@lachlancook6718]

To inflict the world with devastation To unite all peoples within our nation…

[@lordrork5884]

It works in somewhere like the US because it has a singular foundation with a very powerful document to rally around and is followed across the nation (to keep it together in its early day). The UK is a mish-mash of different cultures and traditions and Scotland has largely kept its own distinct legal and educational structures. Since the UK doesn't have much of a unifying principle, it can't do what the US does, and most of us tend to find US patriotism somewhat absurd and even overzealous (the national anthem at a random sports game? What?). The legacy of the class system means that overly pompous and out of touch stuff like this is set up for ridicule. You'd find better football chants to represent the nation, I'd wager.

[@oliviafyfe8359]

Well this sounds like a song preparing us for the British Empire 2.0 ... yey.

[@martyn101101]

More like the fourth Reich

[@lordrork5884]

The results of Britain's military campaigns of the last 20 years have been mixed at best. Hell, half of the aircraft on the Queen Elizabeth are American right now. The only thing we're conquering any time soon are the pubs of the Isle of Wight.

[@oliviafyfe8359]

@@lordrork5884 What a relief 😂

[@johnyyyy4141]

Finally Gets British Citizenship. New vid Evan : Is ThIs PrOpAgAnDa?!?

[@IwanE516]

The lyrics in this song made me immediately think of a quote by Politician Gwynfor Evans "Britishness... is a political synonym for Englishness which extends English culture over the Scots, the Welsh, and the Irish."

[@Theeny]

THIS.

[@elliebuist8734]

My mum is Welsh, my dad is Scottish, I was born in England and we now live in Scotland. We couldn't be more British but this is just outrageous. It feels like England clinging on to what it has left. Northern Ireland is not in Britain, it's apart of the United Kingdom. Scotland deserve the right to leave this "strong nation" which says Scotland is too weak without them yet says we're a money pit with them. I can't wait to vote to leave and join the EU once again. I'm not proud of the country I was born in.

[@dominika1348]

I hope that happens. Scotland is beautiful and people are really warm and I'd like to contribute to the society and maybe move there or at least visit but due covid it isn't possible.

[@TheRogueFeline]

Not gonna lie, when he said to unite all people line i immediately thought of Jesse and James from team rocket.

[@jaydemorton9814]

I kinda love that the devolved nature of education means the Gov really only gets a say in English schools and so this song, like so many British things, is basically English. Also love the ic and that picture was scarily clear. If you're gonna be that crisp please don't zoom in on crazy chants.

[@thenovicewildcamper9192]

You are now 100% British lol You called it footy 👏 that's definitely a britishism right there 👏👍👌

[@davidademola9546]

Me Imagining the year 7s marching down Buckingham Palace and the Queen waving "March my little munchkins, March!"

[@robertgronewold3326]

American here, and I can't help but see this just being a group of Tories remembering how Britain used to be a global super power and are now a rapidly shrinking joke. lol

[@johnhockenhull2819]

As a Brit why have I heard nothing about this? Lyrics do sound like a mantra to brainwash

[@archimistry4454]

It sounds like a year 6 primary school student wrote it haha

[@caitlin329]

It was supposedly written by schoolkids in Bradford, so that checks out.

[@SamanthaJoe]

Mic sounds * *chef's kiss** very nice.

[@kimballspeakthreetheater3318]

Simple: The Tories in London are doing everything possible to keep Scotland from leaving the abusive relationship known as the UK. London takes all the Oil from Scotland and pushes all the Austerity measures onto them, while screaming "Better Together" at anyone who notices what's going on.

[@hobbs1]

Evan, you're hilarious in the face of awfulness...a breath of fresh air. Welcome to the UK...🙄👏👏👏👏

[@KyrieFortune]

"One Britain, one nation" Aren't there two Britains, one being in France? Also hilarious the acronym is OBON... the Japanese summer holiday meant to remember the dead. Not ironic, I just find it funny

[@mirensummers7633]

the irony of "a tremendous desire to help others" meanwhile, saving drowning refugees just became illegal, thanks Priti..........

[@petersmythe6462]

"Survived all these wars?" How many did it need to enter into in the first place lol?

[@lordrork5884]

Well, technically all of them (if we're talking the world wars) because of alliances and guaranteeing Poland's independence. The British (and French) wanted to maintain the status quo, although it didn't really work out for them...

[@nahuelma97]

I think it's the first time I've watched the video on 4K, my computer always automatically set it to HD I think. Damn, it looks amazing. You can really appreciate all the amazing thingies you do in the editing bay in terms of coloring and the lighting and all that. I feel like I appreciate all that even more now than before thanks to the video being automatically set to 4K, I'm amazed lol thanks for your dedication 💚

[@BirdMorphingOne]

The queen literally has a royal poet, but nope, they decided to just throw random words together. Because poetry and song writing is easy, right?

[@caitlin329]

It was written by primary school children in Bradford.

[@veronicamaine3813]

@@caitlin329 somehow that makes it even worse - propaganda from the mouths of babes.

[@babassoonist557]

Hey just so anyone knows, in the US you cannot be forced to do the Pledge of Allegiance at any age. So if it makes you uncomfortable stay sitting, or take a knee if you’re feeling like making a particularly cogent point. I’m a high school math teacher, and I directly tell my home room class at the start of every school year.

[@yeetntnt2903]

the reason some of the lyrics dont really mean anything and it sounds like it was written by childen is because it was. it was written by kids at a primary school in bradford

[@kumaken]

I heard the opening line and team rocket’s motto started playing in my head

[@justabitofamug6989]

*is it time to talk about Northern Ireland yet*

[@Johnsmith47890]

No and It’s better that he doesn’t. I’m not sure if you’re from NI (I am) but things here are very sensitive, especially at the moment. The troubles only ended in 1998 and the division, chaos and violence has continued to present day (obviously not to the same degree, it’s calmer now) children are still educated separately, peace walls still divide Belfast, people still mark their territory with flags and people still build 30 ft bonfires and burn the Irish flag, Irish symbols and pictures of Irish politicians. It’s far to raw and sensitive for people

[@ClumsinessisaCurse]

I would add just two things to this analysis 😂 1. Scotland's school holidays had already started when schools were "encouraged" to participate. Almost as if Britain=UK=England 2. In the video they used the Union Flag for England, and then showed the 3 other countries' flags. No sign of the actual English flag. Almost as if Britain=UK=England By trying to unite the four nations into one they've done a great job at pissing off 3/4 of them. They showed the world that we can, in fact, leave Unions. And now they're scrambling because NO NOT THIS UNION! 🙄 ETA : love that lots of schools here in Wales filmed themselves singing the Welsh National Anthem instead 😂🖕