Every other country around the world uses its public holidays as a celebration of meaning, but we in the UK have three really limp-sounding Bank Holidays that really have no meaning and mean nothing to anyone.
In Australia, they have a public holiday to celebrate the birthday of our King Charles III, but we don’t.
In America, they have Martin Luther King Day to celebrate equality and freedom. In contrast, we have the Emmeline Pankhurst Day which goes unrecognised for female emancipation and the struggle of women.
The Battle of Britain Day comes and goes every year without a mark and without doubt, we could all be speaking German if we lost that one.
Also if we lost that battle of Trafalgar we might all be speaking French, yet Trafalgar Day comes and goes.
We won the battle of Trafalgar, and Great Britain became the number one superpower in the world, which is something we are only too happy to forget.
You could also argue a Bank Holiday for winning the battle with the Spanish Armada. Perhaps if we had lost that one we wouldn’t need to have any Spanish lessons at school as it would be our mother tongue.
On another note. Should all our Saints be celebrated? Saint Patrick for Northern Ireland, St George for England, St David in Wales, and St Andrew for Scotland. In the four home countries should these be celebrated as a day off work?
Not only that let’s remember the health service. The Emergency Services Day and Mental Health Awareness Day. These too could be celebrated on individual days as bank holidays to help raise appreciation for them.
The armed services have a new Armed Forces Day, which always falls on a weekend, however, Armistice Day varies throughout the year, and November 11th doesn’t always fall on a weekend. So should this be a national public holiday?
It’s time to have your say. You can select more than one of the options below, or come up with another choice that you think should be celebrated as a national public holiday and rename one of our three obscure
Bank Holidays in the middle of the year, the May Bank Holiday, the spring Bank Holiday, and the late summer Bank Holiday.
These names really have no meaning but could be turned into public celebrations and a day off work.
We will compile your results and publish a follow-up article soon, also remember that many of our new MPs read our publications and will be looking to make a good first impression with a private members’ bill, to push through popular opinion and make a change for the better, so have your say now.
Click on the survey to have your say and tell us what you selected in the comments section below.
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