Over the weekend, Wales celebrated St David’s Day, one of the most important days for us here in Wales, honouring the patron saint of Wales, Dewi Sant, marking the anniversary of his death over 1500 years go.
Its an opportunity for us to come together and celebrate all things Wales, honouring David’s legacy of piety, kindness and ‘doing the little things’.
As the dust settles on the public and school events across the country, I find myself reflecting on just how great a place Wales is. From our culture, heritage, history, and sporting achievements, Wales has so much to be proud of.
While it may seem like a cliché to say that Wales punches well above its weight, it does. From our spectacular array of castles, beaches, mountains, national parks and much more besides, Wales has so much to offer, and I hope everyone was able to enjoy the recent weekend.
As a member of the farming community, I am proud of the great food and produce that Wales produces. Life is tough for our farming community, thanks to having a Labour Government at both ends of the M4, but I am proud of farming’s resilient spirit, and I will always continue to fight for what the sector needs.
Unfortunately, Wales has long been an outlier to other parts of the United Kingdom. Both Scotland and Northern Ireland have their national days for St Andrew and St Patrick recognised with bank holidays, but in Wales we don’t.
I and my Welsh Conservative colleagues have called on the UK Government to make St David’s Day a bank holiday.
Doing so would strengthen our Welsh identity and sense of pride, elevating our celebration of our culture, history and language to the same national status enjoyed by Scotland and Northern Ireland.
It has long been emphasised by politicians that Saints’ days are moments for communities to celebrate together in our shared culture, and providing the day with a bank holiday with give people the time to take part.
There is also the economic argument, that a bank holiday would support an uplift in tourism, and a boost to shops, cafes and visitor attractions, with the Conservatives long advocating that St David’s Day could become an annual showcase for local food, crafts and music.
This is something I firmly believe should happen, and I will continue to advocate for it. I will never stop being a strong voice for Monmouthshire and for Wales.
Peter Fox MS - Monmouth
