LONDON, May 4 (UPI) -- An attempt to create a song-book for all British primary schools has fallen apart after officials couldn't agree on which tunes to include, organizers say.
Sing-Up member Gareth Malone, whose group was tasked with creating the national song-book, said the musical effort was doomed by cultural arguments about what songs belong in it, The Sunday Telegraph reported.
"The initial idea was to have a national song book. But it's such a hot potato culturally, it doesn't seem to have worked," Malone said. "In the modern world you have to be realistic. You can't be too culturally imperialist about it."
The proposed song-book was part of the government's Music Manifesto initiative, which is promoting singing in all primary schools.
Shadow Education Secretary Michael Gove was critical of the government's decision to give up.
"This government is so paralyzed by political correctness and terminally afflicted by dithering that it can not even decide on a simple thing like the songs children should learn," he told the Telegraph.
