Keir Starmer speaks out after British girl sent home from school for wearing Union Jack dress on culture day

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has spoken out after a schoolgirl was sent home for wearing a Union Jack outfit on her school's culture day.

Schools can sometimes be very strict when it comes to uniform guidelines, with one young girl told to go home after wearing designer shoes, but when it comes to dress-up days, usually things are a little less serious.

We all remember our final day at school, signing each other's shirts, only to never look at them again, but even that long held tradition landed more than 50 pupils in hot water back in 2023.

However, 12-year-old Courtney Wright's Spice Girls-themed costume was deemed to be against the dress code by Bilton School, a secondary school in Rugby, and it was all 'Too Much' for her father.

Dad Stuart Field said: "Courtney was so embarrassed and couldn’t understand what she’d done wrong. She should not be made to feel embarrassed about being British.

"And she shouldn't be punished for celebrating being British culture and history - nobody else I've spoken to can quite get their heads around it."

Courtney Wright's dad claims she was sent home for wearing a Union Jack outfit for her school's culture day (SWNS)

"Somebody at the school has politicised a Union Jack dress even though that was clearly not Courtney's intent," he added.

"Courtney didn’t do anything to be political. It's about being British, the Spice Girls and even the freedom of being able to wear a dress. This was her interpretation of British culture and what it means to her."

After picking out the dress herself, 12-year-old Courtney was reportedly told that it was 'unacceptable' and was hauled out of lessons, while other students who turned up with Welsh or English flags were also turned away at the gates.

A spokesman for Stowe Valley Trust said: "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 11th July, 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.

Despite Geri Haliwell's costume being iconically British, the school apparently did not approve (JMEnternational/Redferns)

"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.

"We are committed to learning from this experience and ensuring that every student feels recognised and supported when expressing pride in their heritage.

"As a school, we are reviewing our policies and strengthening staff training to ensure our practices reflect our values of inclusion, respect, and understanding for all.”

After being approached for comment, a spokesperson for PM Keir Starmer said: “I think the school has put out a statement on this so I’m not going to comment further, but the Prime Minister has always been clear that being British is something to be celebrated.”

Stuart added: "It’s the school who have made it political and it went against everything the event was being held for. She chose the dress and wrote the piece off her own back. The day was to celebrate everyone's cultures and Courtney chose this Union Flag dress so she could celebrate hers.

Keir Starmer has always wanted to celebrate being British (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

"She also wrote this speech to go with it and was very proud of what she'd done. The next thing I get a call at work at around 9am to say she's not allowed in school dressed like that and that it was unacceptable.

"I wasn't able to get away from work until about midday. They made her sit in reception all morning in front of the receptionists and kept her in isolation. She's a straight A student, one of the brightest in her year and she's never been in trouble before so she was really upset."

The dad continued: "All the kids there are British in my eyes, I like to think I'm a tolerant person but this was just not right. I wanted an answer as to why they thought this was acceptable - and nobody could give me a straight answer, I wanted to know how they had justified it.

"I spoke to her head of year, and he said he wasn't the best person to talk to about it, so I can only assume he didn't really agree with it either. It obviously came from above him but I don't know for sure who made the decision."

The dad concluded: "She wanted to celebrate being British, she couldn't understand what was wrong with that."