The secretary of state for Wales has said that he and the UK Government will not be making St David's Day a bank holiday.
There have been long standing calls within Wales for March 1 to be made a bank holiday. The leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies has previously said he supports a S t David's Day bank holiday.
The previous secretary of state for Wales Robert Buckland had previously said he was in favour of making St David's Day a bank holiday in Wales and suggested that an other bank holiday should be scrapped in order to make room for the 1 March celebration. But in the Welsh Affairs Committee, new Welsh secretary David TC Davies rejected this idea.
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Responding to a question from Virginia Crosbie Mr Davies said: "As far as the argument about St. David's Day is concerned....clearly bank holidays do have a cost. I think there's been a suggestion that one might want to move one bank holiday to another. Possibly May Day festival to celebrate International socialism might be moved to March 1 to celebrate St. David's Day. That isn't the (UK) government policy at the moment."
Mr Davies, who was also questioned about some of his previously stated views on climate change, said that the St David's Day bank holiday wasn't something he felt passionately about. He added: "I have to say there are some issues where I feel very strongly, there are others where I'm rather more relaxed. I mean, this isn't something I'd be ever stepping out of cabinet over whatever happened. I accept the (UK) government position as it is."
"I also would say that that on balance, I support it, because actually, I think there are some advantages to not having a bank holiday. I have three children all went to a state school in south Wales and they always used to celebrate St. David's Day in school. There were times [I went] to watch them dancing, singing and stuff.
"And I suspect that had they not been in school, rather than celebrating this wonderful part of Welsh culture and enjoying a little bit of the language and the dancing there might have been a tendency to flop down on a sofa and mess around with a PlayStation and I'd much rather they'd be celebrating Welsh culture.
"So on balance on I'm happy with things as they are. I'm happy with our children celebrating St David's Day in school. If that policy changes sometime in the future, well, I'd look for other ways to try and ensure that our culture is celebrated."
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