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An extra Bank Holiday, yes or no?

Downing Street has approved a petition that was launched requesting a new public holiday falling on the Monday after Remembrance Sunday in November each year. To be known as the National Remembrance Holiday, it’s got three aims:

1. To emphasise the remembrance of those servicemen and women who have given, and continue to give, their lives for Britain

2. To remind people of the importance of protecting our Nation and what it stands for;

3. To break the three month period between the August Public Holiday and Christmas when there are currently no long weekends, especially as the UK has fewer public holidays than most European Countries.

If you agree to the idea, please sign up to the petition here

Personally I’m not sure this is such a good thing. I think it will cheapen the message of Remembrance with people using it as an excuse for a day off work to do anything but remember lives lost in service. What next? Happy Remembrance cards in Clintons?!

Posted by Richard on Thursday 24th of January 2008 at 1:02pm

Tags: Interesting . . . or not

Comments

I think this is an excellent idea, I was just thinking trying to plan my holidays for the year and am in danger of having no time off in the few months to Christmas.

Bring on the holidays, what else can we plan them around!

Posted by Tasha on Thursday 24th of January 2008 at 1:17pm

I won't be signing up, Remembrance Sunday is there and named for a reason. Let's leave it special and not cheapen it with a day off for people to recover from their Sunday hangovers.

Posted by Nikki on Thursday 24th of January 2008 at 4:43pm

Remembrance Sunday is important, but maybe not as important as it once was to people. Just because in 20 years time all the people who were alive during the war will be dead.

Maybe we need to replace it a day to remember everyone in the armed forces who risk their lives in wars abroad at the moment.

And we still get our holiday!

Posted by Tasha on Thursday 24th of January 2008 at 4:57pm

But that's what Remembrance Sunday is.
It's a day for everyone that has been killed in action NOT war to be remembered, be it 90 years ago, 65 years ago or last week.


Think the extra Bank Holiday would be better placed at another time of the year.

Posted by Nikki on Thursday 24th of January 2008 at 5:08pm

And I bet B&Q, Homebase, Currys and the rest wouldn't stay closed for the day!

Posted by Richard on Thursday 24th of January 2008 at 5:11pm

And who'll be thinking of our war heros when they're buying Christmas decorations in B&Q?

Posted by Nikki on Thursday 24th of January 2008 at 5:22pm

But we will get a day off.

Posted by Tasha on Friday 25th of January 2008 at 8:53am

"Just because in 20 years time all the people who were alive during the war will be dead."

But it's not just the second world war. What about those that fought in the Falklands or the Gulf?

This year's eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month falls on a Tuesday. A day when a lot of people completely forget the minute's silence.

Now you could say the bank holiday would give a great opportunity for more people to be free to observe that minute. But would they?

Posted by Richard on Friday 25th of January 2008 at 10:12am

I guess the current wars mean that people are thinking more about the sacrifice of our armed forces abroad. So there is a lot of awareness at the moment.

However, the anti-war movement and the feeling from some people about the current wars has undermined remembrance Sunday.

Posted by Tasha on Friday 25th of January 2008 at 11:13am

Then those people don't understand the importance of remembrance sunday. It's not a day about 'should or shouldn't' the government have sent us to war/conflict. It's about remembering the people that have died to make this country as free as it is, to remember the families of those left behind.
It seems a pity that some people are disappointed that it falls on a sunday!

Posted by nikki on Friday 25th of January 2008 at 12:10pm

By the way, I would like another bank holiday as I only get 20 days holiday a year, just maybe when the weather is a bit nicer, June/July would be nice!
: )

Posted by nikki on Friday 25th of January 2008 at 12:20pm

I've been a bit slow on the uptake here and completely missed this thread...

What if the holiday was the 11th? And moved with it. I never really have been able to work out why all bank holidays must be on a Monday (except Good Friday obviously). That way the message might not be *as* diluted. Or have it on the Friday preceeding Rememberance Sunday, so that people can't use it for hangover recovery quite so readily.

I think it is important to have some form of reflection and rememberance of those who give their lives for us - if nothing else to try and remind us to be more responsible about life and death - but you can't force attitudes and beliefs. If people don't value the sacrifices made, or don't agree with them, there's nothing (in the free society for which they fought) that you can do about it - other than to try and persuade/educate them. B&Q et al may well open, but I'm not sure that that matters? As long as their employees have the choice not to work it, or at least to observe the minutes' silence, where's the harm?

Posted by Siân on Wednesday 6th of February 2008 at 12:50pm

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