In the UK, we currently have the following Bank Holidays:
- New Year’s Day
- 2nd Jan (Scotland)
- St Patrick’s Day (NI)
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
- May Day
- Last Monday in May
- The Battle of the Boyne (NI)
- First Monday in August (Scotland)
- Last Monday in August (England, NI, Wales)
- St Andrew’s Day (Scotland)
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
The first thing to notice is the workshy Scots and Irish getting two extra days’ holiday than us… But regardless, I would like to try and harmonise this system and use our bank holidays to try and build community and national pride. For this reason, I would propose that we harmonise bank holidays and make them all have cultural or religious significance. My preference would thus be:
- New Year’s Day
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
- May Day
- Pentecost
- St Edward’s Day (make him the patron saint of the whole UK to have a celebration of the UK)
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
I would then add the following regional holidays:
- Patron Saint of the nation (George, Patrick, Andrew, and David)
- Patron Saint of the county (where one doesn’t exist, they should be appointed)
- The Battle of the Boyne (NI)
I think that this, as well as the traditional extra holidays for royal events, will make people more aware of the importance of religious holidays, as well as being able to celebrate every level of the UK. Especially important is making Saint Edward the Confessor the patron saint of the United Kingdom, to give a day to celebrate the union and to root that in a saint king from these isles.
