It may be a ruse to save Boris, but we need a bonus bank holiday

Boris Johnson is said to be considering adding an extra bank holiday to the British calendar. No, not to distract from the shambles of partygate and tumbling voter confidence, but in recognition of the Queen’s historic 70-year reign and everyone who served their communities during the pandemic. 

The “Thank Holiday” could make this year’s bonus bank holiday an annual event, creating a four-day weekend at the beginning of June each year.

If this is the PM’s attempt to sweeten voters and plaster over the cracks of the last year, it might just work. After all, England and Wales currently have just eight bank holidays a year, compared to an average of 12.8 in the EU, 13 in the US and 18 in China. 

Though he is rarely remembered for it, Britain has Sir John Lubbock, the first Lord Avebury, to thank for bank holidays. In 1871, the banker and Liberal MP for Maidstone created four of them (Easter Monday, Whit Monday, the first Monday in August and Boxing Day) as part of his Bank Holidays Act. 

Before Sir John came along, banks worried that closing on weekdays might lead to bankruptcy, but the Bank Holidays Act ensured banks and financial buildings could close for the day with no financial consequence. Before long, shops, schools and the government followed suit.

Since then, bank holidays have been a source of great enjoyment. According to global market research company Mintel, 40 per cent of the British population consider themselves “bank holiday lovers” who gain a “feel good factor” from their day off. 

In August 2021, the TUC, the umbrella body for workers’ unions, proposed that Britain should add not one, but four extra bank holidays to the annual calendar, describing the current number as “stingy”. The TUC argued the case for an autumn bank holiday to “break the long stretch to Christmas” and wants those who have to work over bank holidays to be entitled to time off in lieu or higher pay.

The “Thank Holiday” has been gaining support on social media, including from Dragon’s Den star Deborah Meaden, who told the Mail Online she supports the introduction of an extra annual bank holiday because it would be “a major boon for many businesses – especially those sectors that have struggled during the pandemic.”

Meaden and other supporters – including UK Hospitality, brands such as Siemens and Punch Pubs, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Scouts and Royal Voluntary Service – signed an open letter to Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, encouraging an annual “Thank Holiday” to celebrate both the Queen and “all the people who make our communities kinder, nicer places to live”, and provide a post-Covid economic boost.

There’s just one problem; Whitehall insiders estimate that each bank holiday costs the public £1.4bn. And according to The Telegraph, the Treasury has previously been “institutionally allergic to the idea of a new bank holiday.”

Research by accountancy giant PwC suggests the figure is slightly inflated and an extra Monday off would actually cost £877m, and £786m on a Friday. But either way, it’s going to be a hard case to make to Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Then again, this is the same man who introduced Eat Out To Help Out in the midst of the pandemic, so perhaps the Chancellor doesn’t like to put a price on a good time. Boris and Carrie Johnson are said to be “highly supportive” of the idea. No wonder, Boris’ future as Prime Minister might depend on it.