Pupils would give a commitment to Queen and country in ceremonies akin to those for new immigrants. Former attorney general Lord Goldsmith, who conducted a recent citizenship review, said the aim was more social cohesion. Teaching unions said the plan was un-British, and the Scottish Government has also dismissed the idea. Lord Goldsmith, who carried out the review at the request of Gordon Brown, believes that citizenship ceremonies for teenagers would help improve their sense of what it means to be a British citizen. He told BBC News: “The point is to find a raft of different ways that we can create a greater sense of shared belonging in this country, greater social cohesion, and for people to understand more clearly what it means to be a citizen of this country. What the rights are and what the responsibilities are as well. I think a formal ceremony which marks that passage from being a student, who‘s learning about the theory, to a citizen, who now is practising the reality of being a citizen, I think that is a useful thing.” The peer has consulted people in the UK, Europe, North America and elsewhere to pull together a series of proposals aimed at providing a “much clearer vision of what it means to be a citizen”.
Citizenship ceremonies already exist for immigrants and the report suggests holding them in schools, where youngsters who are about to leave the school and move on to work or further education could participate. The plans have been condemned by the group Republic, which campaigns for the abolition of the monarchy. Spokesman Graham Smith told the BBC: “It‘s offensive to people who do actually cherish democracy and who actually cherish the sorts of liberties we‘ve fought for centuries.” He said swearing an oath would be an attack on people‘s freedom of conscience. If children refuse to take part, he added, “are they then going to be told or taught that they are somehow less British or less loyal or less patriotic?”
Labour peer and human rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy said the proposal was based on a misconception of what it meant to be proud of a country. She said: “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.” Other proposals are thought likely to include a revamp of Britain‘s old treason laws, such as sleeping with the wife of the heir to the throne, which is punishable by life in prison. Lord Goldsmith has also hinted at updating the national anthem by removing verses which are rarely performed.
