Bank holidays
Lord Goldsmith’s proposals on citizenship include a Britishness day of some sort. There is something quite ironic about the idea. Where other countries have national days, days of liberation and holidays for freedom, justice, liberty, equality and peace, the British seem to be minded to celebrate the banks being shut. It is a curiously British attitude that says Inconvenience: hooray! If you look at the bank holidays we have, they are functional in name: new Year’s Day, Second January, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, Spring Bank Holiday, June Bank Holiday, Early August Bank Holiday, Late August Bank Holiday, October Bank Holiday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day or St Stephen’s Day. There is no holiday to celebrate democracy, praise the monarchy or rejoice in our liberty. ‘Britain Day’ would quickly become the July Bank Holiday or somesuch. May Day is only celebrated as International Workers’ Day by a relatively small number of people and I think that people will be rather more excited by the prospect of the double bank holiday – two four day weeks with a four day weekend in between – that celebrating Easter.
I think I support the proposal because it will, ultimately, have no significant effect other than to increase my annual leave by a day. It would be part of the banal nationalism that pervades our society but would in the end make little difference.
xD.
