Introduction

On 21 June 2021, the UK Department for Education that governs education in England published a tweet in which they pronounced 25 June as ‘One Britain One Nation Day’, ‘when children can learn about our shared values of tolerance, kindness, pride and respect’, with the support of the then Secretary of State, Gavin Williamson (Harding 2021: NP). The celebration included an ‘anthem’ for all children in school to sing on the appointed day, with the repeated chorus line: ‘We are Britain and we have one dream, To Unite all people in one great team’. Verse two sings out: ‘A nation survived through many storms and many wars, We’ve opened our doors, and widened our island’s shores, We celebrate our differences with love in our hearts, United forever, never apart’ (OBON 2022: NP). This proposed ‘national event’ raises questions about how and why the core vantage point of the Department for Education is inter-related with privileged vantage points such the former police inspector Kash Singh who is promoting the anthem in his capacity as the Chief executive and Founder of the campaign group ‘One Britain One Nation’ (OBON). The anthem shows how the core vantage point uses normative functionalism to fabricate conformity and approved-of identity through how histories and current experiences of living in the UK are included/excluded in the curriculum. Ironically the lyrics encourage disunity because Britain is not the UK, and so Northern Ireland is excluded, and it was reported that most schools in Scotland would be closed for the summer vacation on the day of celebration (Harding 2021). Geography and the UK constitution put to one side, the words and event conflate (and confuse) nationalism with patriotism, and as such the narrative description and critical viewpoints and standpoints of those who are marginalised and othered on the basis of eugenicist populism and nationalism are unrecognised.