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Kinks singer Ray Davies
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Kinks star Ray Davies called today for schoolchildren to be taught about British culture.
The veteran star said schools were struggling to cope with an influx of immigrant children.
So much time is spent absorbing foreign cultures that the idea of Britishness is in danger of being lost, he said.
"There are a lot of new cultures in this country and we must absorb and nurture and assimilate other cultures.
"But at the same time there should be some notice taken of what our culture is.
"Somewhere, on some level, it's got to be worked out," he said.
Davies used the occasion of the Ivor Novello Awards in London to make his plea.
He was there to be honoured for his Outstanding Contribution to British Music.
As songwriter for the Kinks, Davies was said to have captured the essence of Englishness in songs such as Waterloo Sunset.
He explained that he had been working to set up an exchange between a school in Louisiana and another in a deprived area of Haringey, in north London where he lives.
"Schools are under-funded everywhere ..."
"The school I have been working with is the White Hart Lane School and 52 languages are spoken in that school. The teachers have a problem because it's difficult to run a school like that.
"These teachers are doing their job for the most part but it's important that people in government know what's going on, he said.
"I used to go to school and sing hymns.
"I'm not saying people from Croatia or Afghanistan should sing songs by William Blake. I'm not suggesting Morris dancing in the Mosque.
"But it would be interesting for people to realise we have a culture here too."
Davies: "We don't ask people to swear an oath of allegiance in this country.
"In places like Sweden people have to learn Swedish before they can get a good job.
"We had an Empire and we lost the Empire, that's fine. This is all a question of compassion."
He added: "We are not alone. In America, and Europe even, there are places where the culture is changing with immigration."
Davies said the planned school exchange had not yet taken place because the school in Louisiana had been damaged by hurricane Katrina.
Copyright Press Association 2006.
