CALL FOR ADDITIONAL PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
Young people should not be forced to choose between religious festivals and their education, a Tory backbencher said today as he called for Eid and Diwali to be made public holidays.
During a parliamentary debate, Conservative Bob Blackman (Harrow East) raised the issue in response to an e-petition with 122,991 signatures calling for the additions to the calendar.
Speaking in Westminster Hall, he said the e-petition was the largest received to date in contrast to its counter calling for maintenance of the status quo that only secured 40 names.
He said: "Groundswell of opinion certainly appears to be in favour of this particular move.
"Young people of faith should not be put in the position of having to choose between their religious festivals and their education. It is not good for them and it is not good for the country and the economy as a whole."
He also insisted that formally recognising the occasions could lead to other nations looking to the UK as a "good example of positive integration".
The MP went on: "Wouldn't it be a statement that we as a nation embrace these religions and the people who hold them dear and that we are ready to recognise their place in our society?
"Creating these public holidays would be an important step towards promoting the understanding and tolerance of different faiths, not just at home, but abroad too.
"We want other nations to look to the UK for a good example of positive integration and for high-skilled prospective immigrants to consider coming to our country with a sense that their faith is a respected part of their identity.
"This is particularly important I feel for the Muslim community who have been the target of all kinds of hate campaigns and abuse as a group for the sins of a very small minority of extremists."
The Government rejected the petition on the grounds of the "considerable" cost to the economy it would entail and said no changes would be agreed without full consultation.
But Mr Blackman, who said Muslims and Hindus make up 6.8% of the population, argued the case could not be based solely on money otherwise there would be no public holidays at all.
He also dismissed the objection that the festivals have "unpredictable timings", pointing out that Easter does not fall on the same date each year.
He went on: "Public holidays are not just for the few. They are a national event that everybody can take part in regardless of whether they subscribe to a particular faith or whether they subscribe to none.
"Educating a wider section of the population in the traditions and holidays of different religions in such a widespread way would be valuable in helping to normalise the integration of these faiths into our cultural identity."
He even suggested extending the idea so that other religions could benefit too, such as having a public holiday for Yom Kippur.
"The extremely high number of signatures gained by this e-petition should not go unheard of in Parliament and by ministers," he concluded.
"It is not a simple matter of having more public holidays...it is about the meaning behind them.
"It is about giving an overwhelming indication that our minority communities are not just on the fringes of our society, they are part of who we are and what our nation will become in the future.
"It would be a mark of modernisation in this globalised world for Britain to recognise non-majority faith holidays so decisively...Indeed I believe it would be unprecedented to do so."
