'We MUST celebrate our ENGLISH IDENTITY!' Darren Grimes calls for St George's Day to be a national holiday

'We MUST celebrate our ENGLISH IDENTITY!' Darren Grimes calls for St George's Day to be a national holiday

Darren Grimes calls for a national holiday

GB News
Gabrielle Wilde

By Gabrielle Wilde


Published: 14/04/2024

- 15:57

Updated: 14/04/2024

- 15:59

The have been calls for St Georges Day to be made into a national holiday

GB News presenter Darren Grimes has urged the government to introduce a national holiday for St George's day.

He explained that he is "sick and tired" of "Englishness being pushed aside."


Darren said: "I've had enough of us not celebrating our national identity.

"I think it's about time that we celebrate Saint George's Day, the day of our patron Saint.

Darren Grimes

​Darren Grimes said that he thinks "Englishness is pushed aside" 

GB News

"St George's Day is the day that represents our flag and nationhood.

"These symbols, these trinkets of Englishness I think are pushed to one side with the racist, white, horrible bigots in England.

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"Let's not celebrate their national day. In Scotland, Saint Andrew's Day is a public holiday.

"Why can't we do the same thing here? I'm sick and tired.

"What we have is something that English men throughout history have built up, and I think we ought to be proud of that and celebrate it a hell of a lot more than we do."

There have long been calls to make St George's Day a bank holiday in England.

St Georges Day

There has long been calls for the day to be a national holiday

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A former London banker set up an online petition in March calling for the Government to formally recognise St George’s Day by giving everyone the day off.

The petition gained more than 70,000 signatures. Making his pitch to potential signatories, John Kelly wrote: “St. George's Day, celebrated on April 23rd, is an important day for English heritage and culture, yet it is not recognized as a national holiday in England.

“This lack of recognition stands in contrast to the other home nations within the UK - Scotland celebrates St. Andrew's Day, Wales honors St. David's Day and Northern Ireland observes St. Patrick's Day as public holidays.”

On St George’s Day 2017, Jeremy Corbyn said that a Labour government would make all four British saint's days - St George’s Day (England), St David’s Day (Wales), St Andrew’s Day (Scotland) and St Patrick’s Day (Ireland) - into holidays for the whole of the UK.

Only the monarch has the power to make a day into a national holiday, although following convention this is only done on the advice of government ministers.

King Charles would have to either change the date of a bank holiday or create a new one.

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