THE head of Blackburn's only state girls' Muslim school said he would be happy to for students to swear an oath of allegiance to Queen and country.

And Mufti Hamid Patel, head of Tauheedul Islam Girls High School, would like to see more schemes to boost patriotism amongst young people of all faiths.

Mr Patel was speaking after former attorney general Lord Goldsmith, called for school leavers to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen and country in a bid to give teenagers a sense of shared belonging, in a report published this week.

The suggestion was slammed as "silly", a "half-baked idea" and political gimmick by critics.

But Mr Patel, who took over as head of the Bicknell Street school in September, said increasing young people's national pride could only benefit the country at both a national and local community level.

He agreed with Lord Goldsmith's findings that "while there isn't a crisis of national identity, there has been a diminution in national pride, in sense of belonging".

"I'm passionate about patriotism," said Mr Patel, "and I think that there is markedly less national pride in Britain compared to countries such as America or India - even when people there do not agree with their leaders' actions, for example, that doesn't affect their love of their country.

"I don't know why we are not more proud of Britain and all we have achieved, but I think it is something to do with us having a more individualistic society nowadays.

"I am all for finding ways to transform that into a more collective, community-minded society, and one that celebrates what it has, so I would have no problem with introducing an allegiance pledge.

"Our pupils without doubt see themselves as British citizens and have a real enthusiasm to contribute to society."

Lord Goldsmith, who resigned from his Government post in June, suggested holding citizenship ceremonies to officially mark the transition of being a student of citizenship to a citizen in practice, and also said a new British national day should be established to coincide with the 2012 Olympics.

Mr Patel added: "I think opportunities to celebrate what is good about Britain can only be good.

"I don't think you can teach Britishness' as such, but we should encourage people to take pride in their heritage."

Previously independent, Tauheedul became one of only a handful of state funded Islamic schools when it re-opened under local authority control two years ago.