Let's get in line with Europe over holidays
It's another bank holiday weekend – and one much appreciated by working people across the district – but the fact is that in England we get fewer public holidays than most other European countries.
Here in England we have only eight opportunities to enjoy a good bank holiday, compared with Northern Ireland which has 10, and France which has an enviable 13 public holidays per year. I want to see this put right and am backing a TUC campaign that calls on the government to make England more equal with her European neighbours by giving people an extra bank holiday each year.
There have been various suggestions for a suitable date for a new bank holiday – a measure people overwhelmingly support. Teachers and parents alike have always complained about the long first half of the autumn term when children begin getting restless and the summer holidays are a distant memory.
Some say a Veterans Day to follow Remembrance Sunday would be a perfect bank holiday choice to commemorate all those who fought for our country. Another suggestion has been for a bank holiday on St George's Day, as an opportunity to celebrate our national saint's day. After all, Ireland has St Patrick's Day as a public holiday and the Scottish parliament recently voted to make St Andrew's Day a voluntary public holiday.
Those who responded to the TUC poll said they would prefer a bank holiday on the first Monday of autumn half term. However, I think we should look at more than just a date in the diary when we talk about adding a new bank holiday.
On bank holiday weekends, some of us are compelled to spend, spend, spend and for others they are normal working days. Research carried out by the TUC suggests that about a third of full-time employees work on at least one public holiday in the year and that 16-19-year-olds are the group most likely to work.
I would like to see a bank holiday where everyone has the day off – where the pressures to consume and to buy are, if only for a day, absent from daily life. There would be no pressure to go out and spend massive amounts of money at a theme park or to spend half of the bank holiday sat in a traffic jam.
In a world where we are consistently surrounded by the pressure to spend, this bank holiday would stand out. We could enjoy our local community, spend time with family, friends and neighbours and appreciate our free time. It would be an additional step to enjoying an improved work/ life balance in a country where we work the longest hours in Europe.
There are other ways to address work/life balance – I would never suggest a bank holiday is the solution.
Last week, the government announced plans to extend the right to request flexible working to all parents with children below the age of 16 – this is another measure that can help working people. At the moment the right to request flexible working only applies to parents who have children under six or children who are disabled. The extension of this right will be big step forward in helping families combine their home and working lives in a way that suits parents and benefits children.
I welcome this proposal and hope it will come into force as soon as possible. In the meantime, I think serious consideration should be given to working people and another bank holiday to ensure we are not lagging behind workforces in Europe.
If you would like to keep track on what I am doing in parliament, visit www.jontrickett.org.uk. To get in touch about any of the issues rasied here, e-mail Jtrickett@jontrickett.org.uk or call 01977 722290.
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Weather for Wakefield
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: 0 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -2 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South east
