AN SNP MP has described efforts by the UK Government to encourage schools to take part in One Britain One Nation Day as "palpably ignorant".
The British nationalist event has been promoted by the UK Department for Education, which encouraged "schools across the UK" to take part on Friday (June 25) - despite education being a devolved matter and Scottish schools having finished for summer by then.
One Britain One Nation Day involves pupils dressing up in red, white and blue and singing an “anthem” called “One Britain One Dream”, with a Scottish parent telling The National the whole event is "creepy" after the plans were revealed last month for their child's school in Bradford.
The parent also said that you can see from history that movements like this "breed fanatics".
The event also involves ample use of the Union flag and seeks to "reappropriate" it so that it "represents all people of good conscience, in order to promote and celebrate our common and collective identity".
READ MORE: What is One Britain One Nation and why is it pushing British nationalism?
The SNP's Westminster spokesperson for constitutional affairs, Tommy Sheppard, said that had the SNP Scottish Government supported a similar agenda, Unionists would have called for Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville's "head on a stick".
He said: “It never ceases to amaze me how the people in charge of educating children in the UK are so palpably ignorant of the country in which they live.
“The UK is not ‘one nation’; it is one state comprised of three and a half nations. Instead of indulging in this nonsense they would be much better trying to encourage people to understand and respect the differences between people and the fact that our strength comes from our diversity, not from our sameness.
“They’re also asking UK children to sing this on the day Scottish schools break up. It’s pretty crass.”
READ MORE: One Britain One Nation: UK Government wants pupils 'across the UK' to celebrate
A spokesperson for the UK Department for Education told Sky News: “Our schools should promote fundamental British values including tolerance and respect.
“As such, we support One Britain One Nation’s broad aims to help children learn about equality, kindness and pride, and it is for schools to decide how they teach these important values.
“The department has not asked people to sing songs or endorsed any specific materials for One Britain One Nation Day.”
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