Ashok Kumar today called for the government to make St George’s Day (April 23rd) an English public holiday and for the government to also look at a possible further Bank Holiday to mark the Battle of Britain.

Ashok said  “I have long felt that St George’s Day should be a public holiday in England,   After all, Ireland, Wales and Scotland all celebrate their own Saints Day, and I felt the same backing and recognition should be given to England’s national day too.”

“There is a lot to be proud of in the English Tradition.  It isn’t all ale and roast beef either.  England, for me as a Labour MP, is also the country that gave the world Magna Carta, great literature like Shakespeare and Chaucer , and indeed the concept of dissent that we saw with the English Civil War, the New Model Army and the Levellers,   We too have great countryside, vibrant towns and cities and some of the friendliest people I have ever met.  All those deserve a day to be marked.”

“More seriously, I feel the government should also look at the possibility of a late autumn Bank Holiday for the whole of Great Britain to mark the decisive victory of the Battle of Britain in 1940.   It was then, in September and October of that year when Britain faced up to the evils of Nazism alone – and through the efforts of a handful of pilots and their ground staff saved the country – and possibly the world – from the darkest evil mankind had ever faced”

You can see Ashok's Video Blog on the subject here: http://tinyurl.com/ccr3hs