GB News host Bev Turner declared “we need to do better” after a schoolgirl in Rugby was sent home from her school for wearing a Union Jack dress to their “diversity culture day”.
Courtney Wright, 12, was removed from Bilton School for choosing to wear a Union Jack dress and hat to celebrate Britain’s history, penning a speech on the “modern and diverse” British culture.
The speech paid tribute to “Kings and Queens, castles and Shakespeare”, and mentioned Britain’s “modern, diverse, and always changing” culture.
Wright also shed light on how she feels “being British doesn’t count as a culture”, calling for culture to be “for everyone, not just for people from other countries or backgrounds”.
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Bev Turner hailed the ‘wonderful’ schoolgirl for highlighting British culture on her school’s ‘diversity day’
Reacting to the incident, Britain’s Newsroom host Bev Turner heaped praise on the “wonderful” schoolgirl and her celebration of British culture.
Bev said: “What has happened here that you can’t celebrate British culture, and why does it matter? This is wonderful.
“What I find most remarkable is that her father was able to do this, or she wanted to do this. Because on cultural day, I can’t imagine a scenario in which I could get my children at that age to do that, because they would say, ‘it’s not about us, mummy, it’s about everybody else’.”
Noting that the school’s decision “underpins everything about free speech and migration” in Britain, Bev claimed that our culture is being “gradually eroded”.
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Bev fumed: “This underpins so many of the important conversations that we have on this channel. It underpins everything about when we talk about free speech, what we can and can’t say, and it underpins when we talk about legal and also illegal migration and why it matters.
“Because if you believe that Britishness matters, it means that we can take a stand on watching it be gradually eroded. And good for Courtney for going out and at least trying with her classmates to get them to think about what that might be.”
Weighing in on Wright’s removal from the school, cohost Ben Leo reflected on the “inherent guilt” Britons are made to feel when expressing their culture.
Ben explained: “There’s almost that inherent guilt that you can’t talk about your own culture. Britain is one of the most hospitable, welcoming, inclusive, diverse countries going.
“And yet we are constantly made to feel guilty for our past, made to feel like we’re racist or not being inclusive, when the truth of the matter is the complete opposite. It’s like Britain is constantly being gaslit by people who just have a disdain for our history and who we are.”
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Bev and Ben discussed the ‘erosion of British culture’ in society
Echoing Ben’s thoughts, Bev then declared: “I never feel guilty about being British, but they can try and make me feel guilty, I never will.
“But I do struggle sometimes when we talk about migration into this country, and the vast numbers that we’ve seen in very recent times and the massive demographic change in such a short period of time. It matters if we think our identity matters, and we have to have more conversations like this.”
A spokesman for Stowe Valley Trust, which runs the secondary school, told Warwickshire World: “At Bilton School, we are proud of the diversity of our students and the rich heritage they bring to our community. We are committed to fostering an environment where every pupil feels respected, valued, and included.
“On Friday, July 11 an incident occurred during our Culture Celebration Day that caused considerable upset to one of our pupils, her family, and members of the wider community.
“We deeply regret the distress this has caused and offer our sincere and unreserved apologies. We have since spoken directly with the pupil and her family to listen to their concerns and reflect on how this could have been handled better.”