If public holidays were scrapped it would add £19bn to
Britain's annual economic output, a think tank says.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research says each
bank holiday costs the UK economy £2.3bn.
England and Wales usually get eight bank holidays a year,
with nine in Scotland and 10 in Northern Ireland.
This year Easter and the extra bank holiday for the Diamond
Jubilee means there are five in April, May and June in England, Wales and
Northern Ireland.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research says that if
bank holidays were scrapped, Britain's GDP would be £19bn higher every year.
They also suggested that public holidays should be spead
more evenly throughout the year
BANK HOLIDAYS 2012
England and Wales - 2 January; 6 and 9 April; 7 May; 4 and 5
June; 27 August; 25 and 26 December
|
Comparison of
public holiday entitlement
|
|
|
Selected
countries
|
Number of days
|
|
Source: Mercer HR,
December 2011
|
|
|
Japan, South Korea
|
15
|
|
Spain, Malta
|
14
|
|
Portugal, Austria
|
13
|
|
Greece, South
Africa
|
12
|
|
France, Italy,
Brazil, New Zealand
|
11
|
|
Australia, Finland,
Norway, Belgium, US
|
10
|
|
Canada, Ireland,
Germany
|
9
|
|
UK, Netherlands
|
8
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17654781
The above figures show, the UK is one of the countries
with the least number of public holidays per year.
As for the suggestion of spacing them more evenly
throughout the year, most of the holidays are connected with religious holy
days, so without a hasty re-write of the bible I can’t see them changing.
And as a final, point regarding working hours, no employer
ever gave his workers one extra minute off, let alone an hour or a day without
it being squeezed out of them like blood from a stone and being accompanied by
howls and cries that it would ruin them.
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