WATCH: Eamonn Holmes reacts to 'awful' treatment of schoolgirl who wore Union Jack outfit

GB News

A school in Rugby has sparked outrage on GB News after a 12-year-old pupil was removed for wearing a Union Jack outfit to their "cultural diversity day".Courtney Wright was sent home from Bilton School after choosing to celebrate Britain's history and traditions, penning a speech on British culture.FULL STORY HERE.

Transcript

00:00I want you to look at her and tell me if you think she looks well or not.

00:05And now Anna is going to tell us what the problem is.

00:08And if you're listening on the radio, she's wearing a Union Jack dress and a Union Jack hat.

00:15And she looks a bit like Geri Halliwell did in the Spice Girls.

00:18Yeah. So this is a story about a school in rugby called Bilton School.

00:23And they have a cultural diversity day.

00:25And they ask the children to come in in an outfit that demonstrates their culture and make a speech and write a speech about their culture.

00:34So this lovely girl, who I think looks absolutely gorgeous in this picture, came in in a Union Jack dress.

00:41And she'd written a speech about Shakespeare, about tea, about fish and ships, about the royal family.

00:47She'd really done it properly.

00:49Quite inventive then.

00:50Very inventive. And, you know, having had three children, these days are a big deal.

00:55And a lot of preparation goes into them and finding the right outfit.

00:58And what's the school's response?

01:00The school's response is to say, no, no, that's not the sort of culture we want in our school.

01:05And apparently she was actually removed.

01:07What culture? That's their own culture.

01:09Exactly. She wanted to celebrate our own culture.

01:12I mean, this is what we should be teaching our children.

01:15Yeah. I mean, look, we do live in a multicultural society.

01:18I think it's right. You celebrate cultures, but within a British context.

01:22And this is at the heart of the debate about migration and integration.

01:27You know, we ought to be recognising British culture.

01:31We ought to be celebrating it.

01:32And we ought to be celebrating the values that exist within it,

01:36that they're a given that everyone here should sign up to.

01:40You know, I am not English, and the Union Jack is a very divisive thing in Northern Ireland, where I'm from.

01:48However, I buy into the fact that I have come to mainland UK, and this is the main club, and those are the rules.

01:57And I think people, if they come to live in England, they should buy in to the rules.

02:04That's what I think.

02:05No debate. No argument.

02:07It's not about, you know, various other things.

02:09And within that, I can celebrate St. Patrick's Day, and I can do lots of things as well.

02:14But this just seems awful, that they're reflecting different cultures in their school,

02:20but won't reflect a culture like this, which is their own.

02:24And also when you've told the children to actually write a speech about celebrating your culture and your heritage,

02:31and a 12-year-old has made that effort.

02:34What's the child's reaction, or father's reaction?

02:37Do we know how they responded to this?

02:39Well, I mean, I think he was very disappointed.

02:43He certainly doesn't look happy in this picture.

02:45I mean, to be fair to the school, they have subsequently apologised.

02:49But, and what they should, they should actually allow this girl to give her speech.

02:53To make her presentation.

02:54Make a presentation to the full assembly and celebrate, you know, her hard work.

02:59Well, somebody I know very well said to me that her child, during that culture day, St. George's Day it was actually,

03:08and their primary school was opposite a big school called St. George's as well.

03:14And they weren't allowed to talk about English and St. George and all that sort of thing.

03:22And they made this, the school made the kids celebrate and recognise Spanish Day that particular day.

03:29So, I don't know, what is the issue?

03:31What is the problem?

03:32Get over it.

03:32You don't think so.

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