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Let's have a new Bank Holiday to celebrate the NHS

sunderkatwala Tue Jan 01, 2008 at 10:51:04 PM GMT Facebook

In 2006, Gordon Brown asked the Fabian New Year Conference: "What is the British equivalent of the US fourth of July, or even the French 14th of July? ... What is our equivalent for a national celebration of who we are and what we stand for?" He said he had in mind giving the country a new public holiday. 2008 should be the year to make it happen, And why not choose the birthday of the NHS to celebrate this great symbol of our shared values?

Why not let a new British Day Bank Holiday mark the birthday of the NHS, July 5th, and announce it in this 60th anniversary year? The US election campaign again shows how the failure to provide universal healthcare is the number one domestic priority concern of Americans. A British July 5th celebration would mark our great symbol of a fair society. More on this proposal in the Guardian today http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,,2233753,00.html