Neil Hamilton slammed Rebecca Reid's point of view as "unhistorical rubbish" in a heated debate as she argued that Rule Britannia should be scrapped.

It comes after Labour Shadow Culture Secretary Thangam Debbonaire branded the rousing anthem “alienating”.

He claimed: "I wanted to say that Rebecca was just talking a lot of fun historical rubbish. Rule Britannia has nothing whatever to do with empire or domination over other countries.

"It's actually a hymn, a praise for British liberty, which is preserved by the strength of the British Navy in the 1730s and 40s when this song was written.

"The contrast was between England, which was largely the the country in those days, only just after the union with Scotland had preserved its liberties as a result of being able to stop foreign invasions like the Spanish Armada.

"Whereas in the 18th century the continent of Europe was riven by internal wars, with armies invading countries who were next door to them, and all of them controlled by absolute monarchies."