Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory 'could be axed from BBC Proms after Black Lives Matter protests'

The BBC could drop beloved patriotic songs from the Last Night of the Proms in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests, according to reports.

Dalia Stasevska, who is conducting the Proms finale on September 12, is said to be in favour of cutting old favourites Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia from the line-up.

The songs are popular with many Brits and get the Union Jack-waving crowd at the Royal Albert Hall joining in every year, although this year the audience will be kept away due to coronavirus.

But this year organisers are said to be looking to provide a more inclusive running order this year after several weeks of protests and a re-examination of parts of the UK's colonial legacy.

A BBC source told the Times: "Dalia is a big supporter of Black Lives Matter and thinks a ceremony without an audience is the perfect moment to bring change."

Rule Britannia is usually performed by an orchestra of 80 musicians alongside a choir of 100 singers.

But because of social distancing requirements, the Last Night of the Proms will be performed by a much smaller orchestra than usual this year, with just 18 singers set to take part.

Jan Younghusband, head of BBC music TV commissioning, said the line-up is still being considered.

She said: 'We have a lot of problems about how many instruments we can have. It is hard to know whether it is physically possible to do [Rule Britannia].

"Some of the traditional tunes, like Jerusalem, are easier to perform … We also don't know if we'll be in a worse situation in two weeks' time."

Rule Britannia became considered symbolic of the British Empire and the British Navy after being written in the 1740s.

But critics have questioned the line "Britons never, never, never shall be slaves," considering the nation's involvement in the slave trade.

BBC columnist Richard Morrison recently called for Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory to be scrapped for being "crudely jingoistic".

He wrote in the BBC Music Magazine that it would be "insensitive, bordering on incendiary" to sing the songs in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.

He urged the programme directors to replace the "toe-curling embarrassing anachronistic farrago of nationalistic songs" with a "more reflective" line-up so as not to "provoke offence or ridicule".

The BBC said: "The current situation with Covid-19 means the season we had originally planned is sadly no longer possible.

"Instead the Proms in 2020 have been re-conceived in a different format, but our aim remains the same - to create the world's greatest classical music festival by reflecting world-class music-making from leading artists around the globe, highlighting emerging talent, and featuring work by some of today's most exciting and innovative composers."

BBC Proms director David Pickard said: "These are challenging times for our nation and the rest of the world, but they show that we need music and the creative industries more than ever.

"This year it is not going to be the Proms as we know them, but the Proms as we need them.

"We will provide a stimulating and enriching musical summer for both loyal Proms audiences and people discovering the riches we have to offer for the first time."

The live performances of the Proms will begin on August 28.

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