"I swear allegiance to..."

IN THEIR quest for a British set of values the government has stumbled upon the idea of making school pupils swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen.

As much as I have no problem with the Queen, I certainly have a few qualms about this.

For one thing, 'Britishness' is a rather ambiguous term. I like it that way. For me it's a set of principles, mainly liberty and tolerance. How can telling children to make a commitment to the Queen be in line with British principles?

In fact, I can only see this backfiring. Although I expect much of the government's announcement to be mainly about grabbing the headlines, there is no way that this will be duly accepted in Scottish, Welsh, or even some English schools. In fact, the Scottish Government have already rejected the idea. I know a number of individuals who will not allow their children to swear an oat to a woman and institution that they have little or no regard for.

As odd as it sounds, I have to agree with the Association of School and College leaders, who have stated that the plan is "un-British". The anti-monarchist group, Republic claim that:

"It's offensive to people who do actually cherish democracy and who actually cherish the sorts of liberties we've fought for centuries. If children refuse to take part are they then going to be told or taught that they are somehow less British or less loyal or less patriotic?"

This is a very important point. What if someone refuses to take the oath? I hope we never find out.