The headteacher gave it, predictably, and at the end essentially made it clear why he was doing it. The government has been making a lot of noise recently of the need to stop the potential for radicalisation in schools and prisons. The whole assembly wasn't as serious as I'd have liked, but it brings up an important point about British--and by extension Western--values.
When he was being serious, he mentioned things like the rule of law, liberty, tolerance and the
moral values that underlie our society. Disappointingly, quite a few people I know didn't like the assembly and found it irrelevant; I do wish more people appreciate the philosophical foundations of our society, handed down during the Enlightenment by people such as David Hume, Adam Smith and later individuals like Bertrand Russell.
I also wish, even more strongly, that people could appreciate the clear
superiority of Western culture--even assuming all of its flaws--and I say that unabashedly and without hesitation. I won't capitulate to barbarism, and not just militants, but those who would foist their socio-religious codes of behaviour on our society.
He played this song at the end:
And in the spirit of Voltaire he pointed out that it's not the content of his propositions which necessarily matter, but the fact that he has a right to say them.