Nick Bourne AM

I was one of the 11,000 signatories to a petition calling on Tony Blair to make March 1^st a national holiday in Wales. My response from Tony Blair was less than satisfactory, with him stating yet again that there are “no current plans to change the arrangements”. 

I, alongside my Welsh Conservative colleagues have long been pressing for St David’s Day to be given official bank holiday status. But despite widespread support across Wales, including all political parties, the Labour Assembly Government has so far failed to persuade Westminster to bring forward the necessary legislation. 

On March 1^st, 2000, the Assembly voted unanimously to seek approval to make St David’s Day a bank holiday. The only barrier to making St David’s Day an official bank holiday appears to be the reluctance of the Labour Party. 

Rhodri Morgan claims to have a ‘special Labour relationship’ between Wales and Westminster. Perhaps this is one of those “clear red water” issues, Rhodri wants it, Blair won’t give it him. I will continue however to push for a St David’s Day to become a bank holiday. 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 at 12:26 pm and is filed under News from the bay. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.