Boris Johnson has told school pupils it is politically acceptable to sing Rule, Britannia! – amid a fierce row over the tune’s ties to the British Empire.
The Prime Minister doubled down on Wednesday after the BBC said it would play an instrumental version at the Last Night Of The Proms next month, stripped of the lyrics.
It was rumoured the song would be dropped altogether, along with Land Of Hope And Glory, because of their perceived association with colonialism and slavery, including the lyric: “Britons never, never, never shall be slaves."
It comes after Mr Johnson said it was time to end “our cringing embarrassment” about British history, branding the furore as a “bout of self-recrimination and wetness”.
But the BBC insisted it dropped the lyrics because of coronavirus curbs which cut choir sizes and the usual Union Jack-waving audience that fills the Royal Albert Hall on Last Night of the Proms.
In a speech to pupils returning from the summer holidays at Castle Rock School in Coalville, Leicestershire, Mr Johnson cited the debate around Rule, Britannia! as an example of concepts teachers could explore when children return.
He also referred to the “supine stem of confiteor” from Latin study, and touched on the debate around whether Harry Potter is sexist or not.
“You’ll remember these days and weeks and months, you really, really will,” the Prime Minister told Year 11 students back in the classroom for the first time in six months.
“And when you’ve been struggling with something in the classroom or whatever, some concept that you can’t get … like the supine stem of confiteor, nuclear fusion or … is Harry Potter sexist? Answer ‘No’, by the way.
“Is it politically acceptable to sing Rule, Britannia? Yes.
“When you’re struggling with complex questions or something that you’re worried about, somebody, very probably a teacher, a brilliant teacher, will say something and a light will go on, the clouds will lift and you will never, ever forget that moment.
“And that moment is absolutely irreplaceable, it’s invaluable and it can only happen in school.”
It came as billionaire composer Andrew Lloyd Webber waded into the row, urging his long-time collaborator Sir Tim Rice to "fix the offending couplet".
He wrote in an open letter to The Times: "Sir, Rule, Britannia! is one of those melodies that is made by a lyric.
"Played by an orchestra on its own the chorus will sound ordinary at best. There are some great British lyricists around who could fix the offending couplet.
"In the 50th anniversary year of Jesus Christ Superstar, the BBC should send for Tim Rice."
On his visit to the school, Mr Johnson added: “And that’s why education is the great equaliser, it’s the liberator, it’s the transformer of society, and it’s the single most important way in which we can unite and level up across this whole country and deliver social justice.
“And that is why we must, in the next week and the succeeding days, we must have every pupil back in school in the way that you’ve come back to school.”
Downing Street faces another major test next week after Mr Johnson stressed all pupils must return to school for the new term, calling it a “moral duty” to do so.
Another Government U-turn on Tuesday saw guidance for headteachers changed to make face coverings mandatory in school corridors in local lockdown areas of England, and give heads the choice to introduce them in schools outside these areas.