Seasons greetings to our readers

Best wishes for Christmas and New Year to all the readers of this website!

The chance to have free time, rest and relaxation away from work is something that workers and the trade union movement have campaigned for over many decades. Until the 1870s, there were no bank holidays and they were introduced for the first time under the Bank Holidays Act 1871. Since then, subsequent legislation has added more – and we now have eight: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, the May Day Bank Holiday, Spring Bank Holiday, August Bank Holiday, Christmas and Boxing Day. This is still less than in some other European countries, and the addition of more public holidays is definitely one issue on which we should harmonise more with Europe!