British MPs have voted to introduce a bill to parliament on "whether England should ditch God Save the Queen at sporting events" in favor of an alternative national anthem, according to Matilda Battersby of the LONDON TIMES. Shadow Defence Minister Toby Perkins proposed that "a public consultation be launched to decide on a more appropriate song that represents only England and not Britain as a whole." MPs approved the English National Anthem Bill in principle and it will "be given a second reading in parliament" on March 4. While Scotland and Wales have their own anthems, "England does not and so God Save the Queen is normally sung at sporting events when an English team is playing." The Chesterfield MP said that England deserves its own anthem and said in his speech that he is "neither a republican, nor an atheist nor an English nationalist." He said, "Members should detect in me no hostility towards God, her majesty the Queen, to God Save The Queen or to the United Kingdom." He suggested holding an "X-Factor style" program to select a song if the bill is passed into law. Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said that he opposed Perkins' bid for an English anthem for "deep and serious reasons," adding that "there was no greater pleasure for an Englishman than hearing the British national anthem." Perkins said that he would "like to see God Save the Queen replaced by Jerusalem." U.K. PM David Cameron is "believed to have also suggested Jerusalem" (LONDON TIMES, 1/13).
