We welcome Lord Goldsmith’s proposal for a new national public holiday to celebrate ‘Britishness’. Britain has fewer public holidays than any other European country except Romania, with just eight days a year, so a new holiday would enjoy huge public support. But a ‘Britishness’ day that is just a flag waving exercise would be a missed opportunity, as it would fail to bring the people together in the way that a well-thought out new holiday could do.

There is always a danger in any MP campaigning for more time off work. 'Don't they have enough holiday already?' queries an incredulous nation.

Cleethorpes MP Shona McIsaac has introduced a Ten Minute Rule Bill in the House of Commons, calling for a new Autumn bank holiday, and namechecking CommunityDay. Good luck to her!

You can watch her Commons speech on Parliament Life web TV.

Calls for a new bank holiday have grabbed plenty of attention in recent months. Thomas Cook’s petition for a new bank holiday, launched on Boxing Day, has already been signed by over 200,000 people. More recently, GMTV dedicated an entire week to debating four possible candidates for a new bank holiday. Even Gordon Brown contributed - the ongoing debate about the best candidate for a new bank holiday has reached his attention.
 

Did you catch Prime Minister Gordon Brown on GMTV this week? He got everyone excited by hinting that another bank holiday might indeed be a possibility.