§ 34. Mr. Jeffrey Thomasasked the Attorney-General if he will now take steps to cause St. David's Day to be designated a Red Letter Day.
§ The Attorney-GeneralAny such steps would not be a matter for me or indeed for Her Majesty's Government, so I must answer "No, Sir".
§ Mr. ThomasIs the hon. Gentleman aware that that answer will cause great disappointment to thousands of people in Wales? Would he not agree that the time has come to stop this discrimination between Scotland—St. Andrew being the saint whose day is marked with a Red Letter—and Wales? Would he also agree that it would be a suitable tribute now to designate St. David's Day a Red Letter Day having regard to the magnificent victory in New Zealand last week?
§ The Attorney-GeneralI was glad to read of that famous victory, but on the point about discrimination, even the feast of St. George, before his demotion, was not a Red Letter Day. It is right that St. Andrew's is a Red Letter Day, as is, I am glad to say, St. Peter's.
§ Sir Elwyn JonesIs there not a powerful case for doing what my hon. Friend proposes at least on the occasions when Her Majesty's judges are sitting in Wales on St. David's Day?
§ The Attorney-GeneralWhether a day is a Red Letter Day is a matter for the ecclesiastical authorities, and the judges merely follow the ecclesiastical authority as to whether it is a Red Letter Day. Perhaps the right hon. and learned Gentleman can induce the judges to take their own initiative and wear red in Wales.