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{{Short description|Proposed UK national day}}
'''British National Day''' is a proposed official [[national day]] for the [[United Kingdom]] and a celebration of [[
==Overview==
Britain has no unique [[national day]]. It has a number of days of celebration which go largely uncelebrated, and others which are associated with the constituent [[countries of the United Kingdom]]. The latter category includes [[
At present, the [[
===Labour government===
In June 2008, Immigration Minister [[Liam Byrne]] suggested the "[[Bank holiday#Current bank and public holidays|August bank holiday]]" to be made a weekend of national celebration in a speech to [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.progressonline.org.uk/About%5Fus/ |title=Progress About us |publisher=Progressonline.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2009-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717051155/http://www.progressonline.org.uk/About%5Fus/ |archive-date=2009-07-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[think tank]] ''Progress''. However, Scotland's August bank holiday is held on a different date from that in Wales and England. He later retracted this—after pressure from the [[Scottish National Party]] (SNP) – saying he was merely trying to "get the debate started". [[Angus Robertson]] MP and [[Westminster]] SNP group leader stated "Labour's cack-handed attempts to resuscitate a British 'national' identity are just desperate, motivated by self interest rather than national interest".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7433479.stm |title=Politics | Minister in 'British Day blunder' |publisher=BBC News |date=2008-06-03 |accessdate=2009-07-08}}</ref>
In October 2008, in response to a question in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] from [[Andrew Rosindell]], [[Minister of State]] [[Michael Wills]] of the [[Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Justice]] revealed that ''"there are no plans to introduce a national day at the present time"'', leading to suggestions that the proposal had been 'scrapped'.<ref>[http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20081027/tuk-national-day-plans-scrapped-6323e80.html
===Coalition government===
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Most of the suggested proposals for a British Day are already existing holidays or days of celebration in the UK which either are poorly marked by the government and the people, or are not readily associated with the idea of Britishness at present. They include:
* 1 May, being both [[May Day]] and the date that the [[Acts of Union 1707]] took effect.<ref>{{cite web|author=Retiarius Ltd |url=http://www.felixonline.co.uk/articles/2781/Brown_on_Campus |title=Brown on Campus | Felix: The Student Newspaper of Imperial College |publisher=Felixonline.co.uk |date=2006-01-19 |accessdate=2009-07-08 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106204729/http://www.felixonline.co.uk/articles/2781/Brown_on_Campus |archivedate=January 6, 2009 }}</ref> The existing May Day [[bank holiday]] sometimes falls on 1 May.
* [[
* [[D-Day]] (6 June)<ref name="BBCBD" />
▲* [[VE Day]] (8 May)<ref name="BBCBD">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6721239.stm |title=Ministers proposing 'Britain Day' |publisher=BBC News |date=2007-06-05 |accessdate=2009-07-08}}</ref>
▲* [[D-Day]] (6 June)<ref name="BBCBD" />
* Democracy Day (7 June) to remember the [[Reform Act 1832]], also known as the Great Reform Act.<ref name="BBCBD" />
* The date of the signing of
* The [[
▲* The date of the signing of the [[Magna Carta]] (15 June)<ref name="BBCBD" /> (a legal Charter for the [[Kingdom of England]])<ref name="BBCBD" />
▲* The [[Queen's Official Birthday]] (a Saturday chosen in June).<ref name="autogenerated2">[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article788313.ece ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007162738/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article788313.ece |date=October 7, 2008 }}</ref>
* [[Wilberforce Day]] (24 August) to remember the ending of slavery and the part played by [[William Wilberforce]].<ref name="BBCBD" />
* [[Battle of Hastings]] (14 October) Anniversary of the Battle of Hastings.<ref name="BBCBD" />
* [[Trafalgar Day]] (21 October)<ref name="BBCBD" />
* [[Armistice Day]] (11 November)<ref name="BBCBD" />
* [[Remembrance Sunday]] (Sunday following Armistice Day)
==Opposition==
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On a report about a potential British Day, [[Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith]] said:
:"There were undoubtedly issues raised about how a national day would be received in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. But the important point to stress in this regard is that there ought to be nothing in the framework of the national day to prevent particular areas from creating events that celebrate other shared identities alongside our bond of shared citizenship. People have multiple identities and it would be false for events organised for a national day not to be responsive to that."<ref>at para. 40</ref>
[[David Cameron]], as Leader of the Opposition, criticised it as a gimmick in response to the 2006 Queen's Speech.
In Wales, the proposed British Day has been criticised by [[Plaid Cymru]] and others. There have been repeated calls for [[St David's Day]], the feast day of the [[patron saint]] of Wales, [[Proposed St David's Day bank holiday|to be made a
:"This goes to prove how out of touch Labour is in Westminster. It's just another stunt to try and push Gordon Brown's agenda to make us all feel British instead of Welsh, Scottish, English or Northern Irish. While we don’t even have a bank holiday on our recognised national day in Wales, this London Labour government wants us to celebrate a special day that's being created to support their political goals. It would be far more constructive for the Westminster government to support Plaid Cymru's call for a national holiday on St David's day – a national celebration that is already widely observed across the country."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plaidcymru.org/content.php?nID=101;ID=621;lID=1 |title=Plaid call to ditch
This contrasts with other parts of the United Kingdom. [[St Patrick's Day]] has been a bank holiday in [[Northern Ireland]] since the enactment of the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903, and in 2007 the [[Scottish Parliament]] – which has greater devolved powers than the [[Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament|Senedd]] – passed the [[St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007]] which made [[St Andrew's Day]] a bank holiday in [[Scotland]]. Bank holidays in the United Kingdom do not entitle workers to a statutory holiday or extra pay on these days.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2007/en/aspen_20070002_en_1 |title=
==British Day in Germany==
[[Karlsruhe]] city hall hoists the flag of EU member countries on their national day. The UK flag was hoisted on 21 April, the actual birthday of Queen [[Elizabeth II]].<ref>{{cite web|title=City of Karlsruhe |url=http://www.karlsruhe.de/stadt/international/nationalfeiertage |date=2009-06-25 |accessdate=2011-09-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927165241/http://www.karlsruhe.de/stadt/international/nationalfeiertage |archivedate=September 27, 2011 }}</ref>
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:National days]]
[[Category:Proposals in the United Kingdom]]
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