UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended the rugby song "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", used as a chant by fans at matches, which could now face a ban by the Rugby Football Union.
"I certainly don't think there should be any sort of prohibition on singing that", Johnson told Sky News.
The prime minister added that people should shift their focus from symbols of discrimination to its substance.
"All these issues that people are now raising to do with statues and songs and so on - I can see why they're very emotive, I understand that...But what I want to focus on is the substance of the issue", he underlined.
The tune is a 19th century spiritual composed by a former slave Wallace Willis. It has enjoyed popularity as a rugby song among fans and players for several decades.
However, “Swing Low” has come under revision by the Rugby Football Union, which is contemplating banning it altogether as they believe many fans are unaware of its historical context.
The push to review the song comes amid the Black Lives Matter anti-racist protests that have swept across the globe in the wake of the murder of an African-American man named George Floyd at the hands of police in the US.
Protesters have torn down or defaced a number of statues of historical figures associated with the era of slavery.
