LONDON - APRIL 23: Morris Dancers are seen during the Capital Radio St Georges Day Recording at Ye Old St Georges Pub in Beckenham on April 23, 2007 in London, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
We could all be celebrating St George’s Day with a public holiday under plans proposed by Labour (Picture: Getty)

The Labour party says it plans to create new public holidays for the UK – including on St George’s Day.

With eight public holidays, the UK has the fewest of any G20 or EU country.

But Jeremy Corbyn is due to announce his plan to mark the patron saints of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland if Labour wins the next general election.

He will tell a union conference today – on St George’s Day – that after eight years of ‘damaging Tory austerity’, Britain’s workers deserve a day off.

Labour will ask for the support of the governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland so that the same four holidays can be enjoyed across the United Kingdom.

Under Labour’s proposals, UK-wide public holidays will be held on St David’s Day on 1 March, St Patrick’s Day on 17 March, St George’s Day on 23 April and St Andrew’s Day on 30 November.

File photo dated 09/03/18 of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is to announce that Labour will press ahead with plans to introduce new national holidays to mark the patron saints of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, if it wins the next general election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Monday April 23, 2018. See PA story POLITICS Corbyn. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wants to introduce a public holiday on St George’s Day (Picture:PA)

Corbyn, who is speaking at the annual conference of the Communication Workers Union in Bournemouth later today, is expected to announce: ‘If we win the next election, St George’s Day will become a national holiday for Britain’s workers.

‘It will be a day where we can all show our pride and celebrate our country’s tradition of fairness, inclusivity and social justice.

‘Eight years of Tory austerity, which Labour will bring to an end, have had a disastrous effect on our vital public services and workers have paid a heavy price in the cost of living and their working lives.

‘We will give our workers four extra days paid holiday.

‘The four nations that make up our country are more divided as a result of the damaging and divisive policies of this Conservative government.’

"St George?s Day at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire. A re-enactment celebrating the Patron Saint of England. St George comes face to face with the Dragon."
St George’s Day celebrations at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire (Picture: Getty)

Corbyn has previously said the Windrush scandal and the ‘sickening Go Home vans’ showed that the Government’s ‘patriotic posturing’ was a ‘sham’.

‘We need to end the Conservative’s constant pandering to a rich elite at the top and their attempts to divide the rest of us, creating a “hostile environment” for people who come to contribute to our country,’ he will say.

‘So let me say to the Windrush generation and to everyone who has come to this country to make a contribution: You are welcome. You have equal rights and under Labour you will never be treated like second-class citizens.

Spectators dressed as leprechauns attend St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin on March 17, 2014. More than 100 parades are being held across Ireland to mark St Patrick's Day, the feast day of the patron saint of Ireland, with up to 650,000 spectators expected to attend the parade in Dublin. AFP PHOTO/ PETER MUHLY (Photo credit should read PETER MUHLY/AFP/Getty Images)
Spectators dressed as leprechauns attend St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin (Picture: AFP/Getty)

‘We will never allow people to be divided on the basis of race or religion.

‘Labour’s mission of social justice brings people and our nations together.

‘Our values of a fair and inclusive society are our country’s best values, and those shared values will be celebrated by making St George’s Day a national holiday.’