§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether, as a means of assisting Great Britain's entry into the European Economic Community, he will take whatever action may be necessary to increase the existing British public holidays to the level of the country in the Six which has the highest number of public holidays; and by how many extra days holiday the British workers would benefit from this action.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithAs regards the arrangements for public holidays, I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member on 18th March.
The position may vary in different parts of this country but, in general, six days are treated as public holidays each year in England and Wales, and five in Scotland. In E.E.C. countries, the comparable figures range from seven in the Netherlands, to 17 in Italy.—[Vol. 813, c. 377.]