South Thanet MP, Steve Ladyman, is backing a call by a fellow Labour MP for an extra bank holiday. Shona McIsaac MP will this week introduce a ten minute rule bill asking the Government to give workers in Britain an extra bank holiday. Online petitions calling for an extra day holiday have now been signed by over one million people.

Britain currently has eight public holidays - well below the European average - but work longer hours on average than our continental neighbours and despite several high profile campaigns in the last ten years, the UK has not had a new bank holiday introduced since 1978.

Steve Ladyman said "I'd like us to have an extra day in the autumn or early winter. My preference would be for the Monday after Remembrance Day and to call it Nation Day. Remembrance Day is there to remind us of the sacrifices made by people who died for our nation and our freedom; it is the day that we can remember those heroes. Nation Day could be the day we forget our differences and celebrate what it is that makes our nation special; it would be the day we remember why those heroes made the sacrifices they did."

Shona McIsaac said, "Clearly working habits have changed considerably since the 1970s but our public holidays haven't caught up. People are being encouraged to get involved with their families and communities more but aren't being given the time to do it.

"An extra bank holiday is not simply a day off - it's a day to share with everyone else in the country, however you choose to spend it.

Current bank holidays have traditional, historic and religious significance - what we need now is a day that defines what we want Britain to mean now. This would be a day for future generations to celebrate."