BRITAIN:IN A wide-ranging set of proposals designed to boost pride in Britishness a report reviewing citizenship by the former British attorney general Lord Goldsmith yesterday recommended setting up a new British national day.
The event should be established by 2012, in time for the London Olympics and the date of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and may even be a new public holiday, he suggested.
Among other recommendations in the 130-page document, Citizenship: Our Common Bond, Lord Goldsmith suggested that existing citizenship ceremonies - undertaken by foreign nationals taking British nationality - could be extended to young people as a form of "coming of age" event, possibly at 16.
This step would help tackle a "diminution in national pride", and even encourage young people to vote in elections, he suggested. "I am in favour of people swearing an oath to the head of state. It would mark the passage between being a student of citizenship and an active citizen."
He recognised that the plan would "raise particular issues" in Northern Ireland, and added that there might need to be "special arrangements". The report also suggests that the government should consider withdrawing Commonwealth and Irish citizens' right to vote in UK elections.
Lord Goldsmith said the ceremonies need not necessarily involve an oath of allegiance to the queen. "It can be a pledge of commitment to the country, it can be a statement of what the rights and responsibilities of citizens are," he added.
People who do worthy community work such as setting up recycling schemes could get a small council tax discount and students who carry out community work should get reduced university tuition fees and even have part of their debt struck off, he added.
And there should be changes to the current categories of citizenship. Foreigners who cannot take British nationality because their home nations do not permit dual citizenship could become "associate citizens" of the UK, he said.
Citizenship could be earned by foreign nationals under a credits-based system, under which they would gain points for various activities in the community.For example, working in key jobs, such as in the NHS, could earn additional credits, he said.
The document also proposed: reforming "archaic" treason laws; lowering the fee charged for becoming a British citizen; a special annual citizenship ceremony attended by the prime minister and a senior royal to recognise "outstanding acts of volunteering"; a review of the ban on asylum seekers taking paid jobs; a rethink of the decision in 2005 to replace refugees' "indefinite leave to remain" in the UK with a temporary five-year grant, which is a "disincentive" to integrate; and loans to help pay for English lessons.
Asked whether the union flag should play a larger role, Lord Goldsmith said: "I think that some people want to celebrate their identity by using particular symbols, including the flag. If people want to do that, that is absolutely fine. For other people, the flag doesn't do it for them, but there are other ways they can celebrate."
The report was warmly welcomed by prime minister Gordon Brown but its ideas received a mixed reaction elsewhere. John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said of the oath: "Schools will reject it as an un-British idea imported from America, which does not fit into their ethos or culture."
Scottish enterprise minister Jim Mather (SNP) said calls for young people to take part in British citizenship ceremonies would be opposed north of the border.
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC told BBC Radio Scotland: "I just think the symbols of a healthy democracy are not to be found in empty gestures and I'm afraid I see this as an empty gesture."
Mohammed Shafiq, director of Muslim youth organisation the Ramadhan Foundation, said: "Asking children to swear an allegiance to the queen will not help them understand the nature of this country."