Honour St George

St George flag

A call for St George's Day to be declared a Bank Holiday has been made by local UKIP MEP Paul Nuttall.

"Every year a big fuss is made about St Patrick's Day and it would be fantastic if as much fuss was made about the patron saint of England.

"Like a growing number of English folk, I believe St George's Day should not only be celebrated but marked as a national holiday," said Mr Nuttall, UKIP deputy leader.

"There has been an improvement in public recognition over the past couple of years but it is really still very low key.

"We have far fewer public holidays in this country than many European countries and I believe it would be appropriate for one to be instituted for St George," said Mr Nuttall.

"Much Guinness is quaffed on St Patrick's Day and no doubt the patriotic English could do the same on St George's Day with traditional real ales, which thanks to an increasing number of micro-breweries, are more and more available. This in turn could be a fillip for our ailing pub industry.

"Meanwhile I hope as many people as possible show their support for St George by wearing a traditional red rose on Monday," he added.