Today is St David’s Day, when people throughout Wales, the diaspora throughout the UK and many more further afield, will be celebrating the life of Saint David, or Dewi Sant, and celebrating our Welsh cultural identity.
There will be celebratory parades, school children in traditional costumes, singing of Welsh songs, and many other displays of Wales’ rich cultural traditions.
Yet despite the day’s importance to many Welsh people, and years of campaigning in Wales, St David’s Day is not a public holiday, and nor does Wales have the ability to make it one.
In Scotland, the Scottish Parliament has had the power to designate bank holidays for around a decade, and in 2007, after a consultation which showed strong support amongst the Scottish public, they decided to make St Andrew’s Day one.
In Wales, we have similar levels of public support for making a new public holiday. A poll from around the time that Scotland made St Andrew’s Day a bank holiday showed that 87% of people in Wales wanted to see St David’s Day become a proper public holiday. 65% of those surveyed stated that they would even be willing to sacrifice another bank holiday to see St David’s Day officially designated.
Even amongst the political parties represented in the Welsh Assembly – not often known for their agreement – there has been unanimity for years that Wales should have the ability to designate St David’s Day a bank holiday.
In 2011, after pressure from the Liberal Democrats, the UK Government agreed to look at giving the Welsh Assembly the power to move the spring bank holiday from early May to March 1st as part of their tourism strategy. However, despite wide political and public support, and great expectation, nothing ever came from this.
In 2013, the Welsh Government wrote to the Wales Office calling for this power to be devolved, but were rebuffed by the then Secretary of State for Wales.
It seems unlikely that if the power continues to rest in the hands of the UK Government that we will see St David’s Day become a public holiday any time soon, regardless of the support for such a move from the Welsh public.
Is it not now time that the Welsh people were able to decide whether it is right that St David’s Day became a public holiday in Wales, rather than it being decided, and rejected, in Whitehall?
So whether Wales chooses to make St David’s Day a new public holiday, or whether it replaces another, I strongly believe that that should be for Wales to decide.
So on this day, I would l like to wish everyone a Happy St David’s Day, or Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus, and quote the words of Saint David when he said “do the little things”, or “gwnewch y pathau bychain”, because that is all we are asking for.
To make our own choice on how we celebrate our Welsh national identity is a little thing, but one which could have a very big impact on the opportunities, and life in Wales.
Mark Williams is the Liberal Democrat MP for Ceredigion