Last Night of the Proms will be further diluted by axing of patriotic songs

This was a classic case of trying to bury bad news late at night using a maximum layer of spin. Yes, the two patriotic anthems will be played at the concert on September 12 but, farcically, they will be orchestral versions, without the lyrics that have made them famous and much-loved across the nation.

The BBC’s planned axing of the words was first reported by the Sunday Times, which claimed that organisers feared a backlash from the Black Lives Matter movement because of their perceived association with colonialism and slavery.

Of course here in Northern Ireland we have become accustomed to the diluting of the Proms. Rule Britannia hasn’t been played at Proms in the Park here (mostly hosted at Titanic Slipways, Belfast) for years now, as indeed it hasn’t been in Scotland.

Land of Hope and Glory was still on our schedule but even it has now fallen foul of a corporation which has needlessly panicked over the issue of race.

A number of prominent government ministers have voiced their displeasure at the decision, with Boris Johnson eventually joining the chorus of disapproval with some strongly worded comments.

The prime minister said the UK should stop “our cringing embarrassment about our history” and sing the words to both songs, and suggested that he “could not really believe” the plans to do away with the words.

It was a strong stuff from Mr Johnson but he would do well to intervene even more decisively. As almost everyone who watches Last Night of the Proms is aware, it is a light hearted climax to a series of classical music concerts. It is patriotic but most certainly not racist. The BBC decision implies otherwise.