HC Deb 08 July 1960 vol 626 c62W
Mr. de Freitas

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the fact that there are less Bank Holidays in this country than in any of the following European countries, namely, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Spain, Sweden, and Yugoslavia, whether he will inquire into the desirability of having another Bank Holiday each year on or about the first Monday in September.

Mr. Barber

Bank Holidays were desirable in the days when they were the only opportunities for holidays available for the bulk of the population, but I see no need for increasing their number in the very different conditions of today. The question of the desirability or otherwise of moving the August Bank Holiday to a later date is one of the questions being examined by the official committee appointed by the President of the Board of Trade to consider what action the Government can take to encourage the extension of the holiday season.