No 10 responds to speculation of new bank holiday next year 'to celebrate 80th anniversary of WW2'
26 November 2024, 13:51
Downing Street has responded to speculation there are plans for a new bank holiday next year to give the country a four-day weekend to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
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No 10 said that instead of an extra Bank Holiday the May Day bank holiday will be repurposed to mark VE day.
"The 80th anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day are moments of huge significance for our country where we come together to honour the memory of those who served," the Prime Minister's spokesperson said.
"We are committed to commemorating and observing these national important occasions appropriately which is why we've announced more than £10million for events to mark them. We'll set out more detail shortly.
"These plans do not include an additional bank holiday but we will look to use the existing early May bank holiday for commemorative events."
May 8 is the anniversary of VE Day, the end of the war in Europe after nearly six years, although the conflict continued in other parts of the world for several months.
There are currently eight bank holidays scheduled for next year.
The Second World War was the deadliest in human history, with an estimated 70-85 million deaths, or around 2% of the world's population.
Some 450,000 people from Britain and its colonies died, including soldiers and civilians.
Geoff Roberts, who served in the UK's Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, said: “I think it’s very important in these current times we remember those that gave their lives for our freedom and peace in Europe.
"We should never forget them. Maybe an extra bank holiday will help to remind people about what’s happened in the past.”
Marie Scott, 98, who worked in a top-secret communications bunker during D-Day in 1944, welcomed the bank holiday plan.
She said: “An additional bank holiday would be an opportunity to thank all those wonderful people who made such a spectacular victory possible because, without them, the future could have been very dire indeed.”
