Former Welsh secretary ‘not persuaded’ St David’s Day should be a bank holiday
St David’s Day should not be made a bank holiday because it would impact the “tremendous role” schools play in fostering Welsh identity, a Conservative former Welsh secretary has suggested.
Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb said he was not persuaded by calls for March 1 to be made a bank holiday in Wales as part of the celebrations for the nation’s patron saint.
Mr Crabb told the House of Commons that St David’s Day was “first and foremost about the children” and “nurturing” the traditions it represented.
On St David’s Day, schoolchildren dress in traditional Welsh dress, including the stovepipe hats and woollen shawls known as the Welsh lady costume, as well as Welsh rugby jerseys.
They also take part in singing and poetry events, sometimes in a school eisteddfod, a cultural tradition which sees participants judged for their musical or literary prowess.
There have been growing calls for St David’s Day to be made a bank holiday in Wales in recent years but the UK Government, which holds responsibility over this area of law, has not been receptive to the proposal.
Distinctive
Mr Crabb, who served as Welsh secretary between 2014 and 2016, told the Commons: “I always think that one of the really distinctive things about celebrating St David’s Day perhaps in contrast to St Patrick’s Day or Burn’s Night celebrations – and this might just reflect my own narrow experience of those two events celebrated by our Celtic cousins – but for me St David’s Day is first and foremost about the children.”
After stressing that the day had been “part of the Welsh childhood experience for generations”, he added: “It is one of the reasons why I am not persuaded that St David’s Day should be a national holiday.
“Do we really think that the cultural richness that St David’s Day is today would be the same if it was a day for children to remain at home?
“The schools play a tremendous role in nurturing the St David’s Day tradition and giving children that sense of Welsh identity and growing in that identity.”
As he took part in the debate on Welsh affairs to mark St David’s Day, Mr Crabb also told MPs that Wales should do more to tell its “national story” on an international stage.
“Sport is an incredibly powerful vehicle for actually helping to tell that story,” he said, highlighting Welsh football’s recognition around the world following the World Cup in Qatar.
The Tory MP added: “Certainly when you travel internationally and you meet people who aren’t necessarily that familiar with the slightly complex structure of our United Kingdom family of nations and you say you are from Wales, particularly when you go to North America, yes they get Ireland, they understand the Irish national story, they perhaps understand the Scottish national story, but I sometimes think that the Welsh national story is less well understood.”
He later emphasised that Wales did not “make enough of the Welsh diaspora that moved to the US”, telling MPs: “I think sometimes that the Irish and Scottish make far more of their diaspora and use it more intelligently to further strategic economic objectives than we do.”
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But he is fine with destroying the economy whenever a royal family member farts in public and we are forced to celebrate a fake holiday for their fake democracy.
And a foreign monarchy at that who are in possession of forged British titles in order to convince the World they are British. At the expense of the actual British people they like to call Welsh.
It’s not about what Steven Crabb thinks, wants, or his irrelevant opinions, it’s about what the people of Wales want and should have – a bank holiday to celebrate our patron saint
“Mr Crabb told the House of Commons that St David’s Day was “first and foremost about the children” and “nurturing” the traditions it represented.”
The usual argument about schools fostering Welsh identity can be addressed with Eisteddfods/celebrations taking place the day before St Davids Day. Should Christmas Day be a normal working day so that schoolchildren can do Nativity plays? Also education and culture are devolved matters in Wales, so stop trying to act as though as if Westminster knows best.
Very good points!
If schools taught Welsh history and culture then there would be no need to rely on St David’s Day to foster a national identity. If there were a bank holiday for everyone, and not just a few workers, communities could organise events to celebrate being Welsh. This would bring communities together and businesses would benefit from supplying provisions. If they can do it for Bonfire Night then they could do it for St David’s Day.
It would also bring in tourists just like the Eisteddfod and Royal Welsh Show. The whole country would benefit.
I agree. Despite the might of Rome, then the Saxon Angle Jute Flemish and countless mercenary hordes. The Vikings, the Norman, Norman English and eventually the English, the Cymru still exists , despite long standing overwhelming odds. It is the establishment narrative when echo chamber Anglo centric historians talk about the historical record of the indigenous native Briton’s. They fail to mention that despite the Saxon being swept away in the blink of an eye by the Norman conquest, it took almost another 250 years to come close to subduing the Cymru. This resulted in the most extensive and expensive… Read more »
A great comment. The only thing I would like to add is that Cymru still exists despite the Labour party over the last 100 years engaging in cultural re-engineering by denying the history of Cymru being taught in our schools. Shame on the Labour party!
So Stephen Crabb is not persuaded that St’ David’s Day should be a bank holiday for Wales even though there’s been calls by the Welsh Government over the years to devolve the power, the Welsh electorate have continually voted for Welsh Labour who in their past manifesto pledged to gain the power, not forgetting a recent petition ignored by Whitehall where thousands signed in favour. In 1903 the UK government created a bank holiday for the isle of Ireland to celebrate St’ Patrick’s Day. They devolved the power to the Scotland parliament who in 2007 create a national bank holiday… Read more »
To me, the whole point of this debate is not whether St David’s Day should be a Bank Holiday or not, but who has the right to make that particular decision. Stephen Crabb, like all Welsh people, has a right to an opinion on this (even if we disagree with him – he is a Welsh politician). However, throughout this debate we have had UK Minister’s and politicians, including politicians from England, dictating to us, and telling us: no, you can’t. It should be our decision to make, debated and decided in our democratic Senedd, not in London. That’s what… Read more »
When did a Welsh secretary ever agree with anything Wales wants?
Not in favour of It either for one simple reason – by doing it, it breeds Welshness over Britishness when in fact it’s the English who are more Welsh (Foreign) than the Cymro. The Cymric Man/Woman are British, more so than the converted English man or Woman. A Historical fact we have been conditioned to forget.
Mr Crabb is a prime example of the extreme Stockholm Syndrome we experience in Cymru. As a proud Welshman he should be promoting Welsh culture more, no siding with an organisation that really doesn’t give a toss. Unfortunately, we are still under the jack boot of the Westminster establishment. No matter how devolved the Senedd may become Westminster still believes it can do what it likes, our laws mean nothing. Ultimately, the time for complaining about it is over, the time for persuading the welsh public there is a better future outside the Union – is with us.
Just because the english don’t celebrate St George’s day that’s their problem, how dare they tell the people of cymru it’s not a public holiday for the people of cymru 🏴🏴🏴.
Typical conservative we in wales mustn’t have a holi day for our National saint but others can have one for theirs yet we get a holiday for some foreign Royal .