Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Dan Bloom

No10 issues update on calls for an annual Queen bank holiday as 120,000 back petition

There are no plans yet to make a permanent bank holiday every year for the Queen - but Downing Street has not ruled it out in future.

Some 120,000 people had backed a change.org petition by this lunchtime calling for an annual day off in honour of the “the world’s greatest monarch”.

Petition founder John Harris wrote: “Britain has fewer bank holidays than most European countries; France has 11 compared with our 8, Spain has 14.

“I believe we need a new public bank holiday to mark our greatest Sovereign’s lifetime; a Queen Elizabeth Day.

“A day for our Nation to come together and celebrate both the life of the Queen, and our gratitude for the institution of our Royal Family.”

Asked about the pleas today, Downing Street said there are currently no plans to implement one but the government wants to “memorialise” the Queen.

The Crown of Scotland is placed on the Queen's coffin at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh as her children look on (2022 Getty Images)

Liz Truss ’s official spokesman said: “There are no plans to do that currently but obviously we keep all national holidays under review”.

He added: “More broadly, the government wants to consider the best way to memorialise the Queen.

"That's something we will consider not just on our own but obviously in conjunction with the royal family and others.

“On bank holidays more generally, we do need to strike the right balance because we do also hear from businesses and other groups on the impacts.”

The cost of extra bank holidays to the economy has long been disputed, but research by big accountancy firms this year suggested it could be £800million.

GDP shrank by 0.6% in June in a move that was partly put down to an extra one-off bank holiday for Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.

The Queen's coffin in Scotland. It has since travelled to London (Getty Images)

This coming Monday has been made a short notice, one-off bank holiday to allow workers to watch the Queen’s state funeral.

But that has sparked a backlash after Center Parcs told holidaying families to leave - only to stage a partial U-turn - and cancer and other NHS appointments were cancelled.

No10 said: “As with all bank holidays urgent and emergency services, urgent dental treatment, GP appointments will be available on the day. 999 and 111 will be accessible as normal.”

“The NHS will continue to operate at scale on that day.”

But one man blasted the NHS today after his 90-year-old mum Ida’s hospital appointment was cancelled due to the Queen's funeral.

Paul Patrick, 67, told WalesOnline: "My ma is very upset and I’m incandescent with rage. Ma was admitted to hospital a few weeks back.

"They were very worried about her because she was losing weight and was dehydrated, so they had quite a quick follow-up for her on Monday. She's been worrying about it for a long time.

"On Monday (September 12), I tried to phone to see if it was still going ahead, and yesterday I was on the phone for 85 minutes waiting to get through and all they could say was they weren't sure if it was being cancelled. Ma was in a right state and then they phoned yesterday afternoon to say it was cancelled and they don't know when it will be.

"Ma is devastated. She's not in good health, she's 90, she's very, very frail, and not in a good frame of mind. My father died two years ago so she's still mourning him too.

"It's been traumatic for her. I'm not a monarchist, but my mother is, and I just think it's appalling. These are vulnerable people and those appointments should be going ahead.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.