The Archbishop of York received a royal rap on the knuckles after he suggested Wales and Scotland should sing God Save the Queen before international sports games.
Stephen Cottrell proposed that when the different nations of the UK play each other in sporting contests they sing their countries individual anthems before they “sing our national anthem together”.
Cottrell also complained about Scotland singing the Scottish national anthem Flower of Scotland before its Euro 2020 match with England, instead of both teams having “sung one national anthem”.
He also questioned why it had become taboo to be patriotic in the Telegraph piece that also took aim at the ‘patronising’ London elite.
BBC backlash
BBC Wales was bombarded with a barrage of angry responses after it shared the article on its official Twitter page and asked: “Could Welsh sports teams sing two anthems before games?”
Bryn Williams said: “Perhaps BBC Wales should be renamed ‘BBC in Wales’ as they clearly don’t respect our differences.”
Llion Rhys said: “Guessing they don’t realise we’ve got our OWN anthem? What a stupid question!”
Roopa Vyas said: “Could this be the worst thing the BBC has posted?”
Reactions
This has gone down as badly as expected with the Welsh and Scots.
Here’s what people had to say:
1.
POLL: Should Wales’ sports teams sing God Save the Queen? pic.twitter.com/i0i0qeJ6Zb
— Alun J (@alunj92) August 12, 2021
2.
I’d rather have a revolution than sing god save the queen
— Rangzen (@revoltinghippie) August 12, 2021
3.
Archbishop of Fuckwittery thinks Wales and Scotland should sing God Save the Queen.https://t.co/89Yfue7fKo
— Sam Bright (@WritesBright) August 12, 2021
4.
Yup, we tried God Save the Queen before.
— Rach Garrioch ??????? (@RC_Garrioch) August 12, 2021
This clip is pretty spectacular. Definitely made the hairs on my neck stand up when the crowd started singing. https://t.co/JozYR8WU52
5.
So when Wales play Scotland they should both sing God Save The Queen? Hilarious concept. https://t.co/kKPah5F1Ua
— Lloyd Cole (@Lloyd_Cole) August 11, 2021
6.
“I’ve told the Archbishop of York to tell the Welsh to sing god save the Queen.. that’ll distract them..” pic.twitter.com/gyXi1wIvBl
— J.R.Hartley’s Armchair. (@JRsArmchair) August 11, 2021
7.
Just seen why God Save the Queen is trending, and it reminded me that Wales was recognised as an independent country at a UN meeting at the end of Black Panther. pic.twitter.com/IHwpDUfZ7R
— Cromwell (@Cromwell606) August 11, 2021
8.
God Save The Queen is objectively an awful song. It shouldn’t be played anywhere, ever. https://t.co/XeEdfMPsku
— Damien, The IndyCar Brit ?? (@DamienHellewell) August 11, 2021
9.
I’ll sing God Save the Queen at Wales matches if he sings Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil at Sunday service. https://t.co/zoAE28nbbC
— Craig Hawes (@CRHawes1) August 11, 2021
10.
As an alternative headline, how about “Grown man who still has an imaginary friend says something stupid – shock”
— Andrew Lucas (@AndrewLucas103) August 11, 2021
Related: Welsh Independence? Labour’s ‘thin red line’ not enough to protect Wales from Westminster
