Britishness Holiday - Another Labour Cock Up

LIAM BYRNE: 'Just trying to promote a debate on issue.'

Early on yesterday the Guardian reported that

The August bank holiday could be turned into a "Great British weekend" that would allow people permission to celebrate everything they like about the country, and help frame the "progressive case for controlled immigration".

In a speech today Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, will set out the proposals drawing on Home Office research which shows public support for a Britishness day running at two to one.

Nowhere in this article did it mention that the August Bank Holiday weekend is not celebrated at the same time in Scotland - Oops. Perhaps Mr Byrne and his staff didn't realise this, but you would have thought that when dealing with something about Britishness they might have done some basic checking.

This is typical of Labour's attempts at being British and a god send to the likes of the SNP who complained later in the day that Scotland has it's August Bank Holiday on the first Monday in August rather than the last as it is in England.

In the Herald Liam Bryne is quoted as saying

"I myself have become convinced that the August bank holiday - what someone has called the Great British Weekend' - has the virtue of being in the summer and already being a bank holiday."

In fact even the SNP are wrong as the August Bank Holiday is not even celebrated in all parts of Scotland as many regions and cities such as Aberdeen take other holidays as each local authority in Scotland has powers to designated certain days as 'local' public holidays rather than celebrating the "National" holidays.

The Scottish Government has this to say on the difference between bank holidays and public/local holidays

It is important to draw a distinction between bank holidays, and public or local holidays in Scotland. As the dates for bank holidays are set out in statute or are the subject of proclamation, it follows that they are the same across the whole of Scotland. On the other hand public or local holidays in Scotland are determined by local authorities, based on local tradition (not statutory authority) and after consultation with local business interests.

There is no legal or statutory definition of public holiday in the United Kingdom and it is questionable whether public holidays exist in Scotland. The term is often confused with bank holidays. In England and Wales a bank holiday tends automatically to be a public holiday, in that the majority of people have the day off and the day is generally observed as a holiday. In Scotland this is not always the case.

So even if the UK government decided on a Brittishness Public Holiday it still might not apply in Scotland.


August bank holiday could be celebration of Britishness | UK news | The Guardian: