A Tory MP has praised Dartford for its celebrations for St George's Day and said that "too often people are held back" from celebrating the day of England's patron saint.
Every year, Dartford hosts an annual celebration of England’s patron saint with live music, life-like characters, and a school parade.
The ethos of the event looks to celebrate and showcase a culturally diverse England and how regardless of ethnicity, faith and background, everyone can "come together to celebrate British culture".
Speaking to GB News presenter Ellie Costello, Gareth Johnson, the MP for Dartford, said: "There's hundreds of St George's flags, people with red roses, people just celebrating Englishness, which is a wonderful thing to do.
MP for Dartford Gareth Johnson said that the town is "unashamed" of its celebrations
GB News
"Too often people hold back a little bit, I think, on this kind of thing. But we're unashamed.
"We will celebrate this full-heartedly. It brings everybody together. It's celebrating our national day."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
The annual celebration commemorates the anniversary of the patron saint of England but is not marked with a national holiday.
However, many have suggested it should be a day off for the English as Scotland and Northern Ireland get holidays for St Andrew’s Day and St Patrick’s Day respectively.
The Tory MP for Dartford also argued that the day should be marked with a bank holiday.
Speaking to Ellie he said: "I think there's a really good case for having either Saint George's Day or the monarch's birthday as a National Day, instead of maybe one or the other more controversial public holidays that we have.
St George's Day celebrates the patron Saint of England
Getty"I think most importantly though, we should celebrate Saint George's Day as it is our National Day.
"Every other country in the world pretty much has a national day where they take pride in who they are and their identity. England should be no different to that."
This comes after Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, took to the The Telegraphto lay out his “great pride and gratitude to be English”.
Dartford celebrates the event annually
GB News
In an op-ed, he promises that under a Labour Government “we will celebrate St George’s Day with enthusiasm, an enthusiasm shared by each patron saints’ day on our isles".
Some have criticised the statement, including Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns who believes the Labour leader is guilty of being "disingenuous".
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak marked St George's Day by sipping from a cup of coffee in a mug marked with a red cross, with the message: "Perfect way to start the day. Happy St George’s Day!"
