Should we get an extra bank holiday in 2025?

Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and the UK is set to celebrate the occasion over the course of four days, according to reports. This will include an extra bank holiday in the summer, making for a four-day long weekend.

Have your say! Should we get an extra bank holiday for this anniversary of the Second World War? Are more bank holidays a good thing - and are there any other occasions where we should get one? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.

May 8 represents the Victory in Europe Day when Germany surrendered unconditionally in 1945, while August 15 marks Japan's surrender, effectively concluding the conflict. Although no specific summer weekend has been chosen yet for the extension to a four-day break, authorities are expected to confirm soon.

Both dates are being weighed up with an announcement soon, according to national newspaper reports. The proposal includes either creating a long weekend by clearing schedules from May 9 to 12 or adding August 22 as an extra day to the summer bank holiday on August 25, transforming it into a four-day celebration.

Current bank holidays include 1 January, a Wednesday, which is New Year’s Day, before 18 April sees Good Friday marked. Then, there is the 21 April Easter Bank Holiday, before the early May bank holiday on Monday 5 May, and late May bank holiday a few weeks later on 26 May.

25 August, a Monday, is the next, otherwise known as the summer bank holiday, before 25 December and Boxing Day, over the Christmas period. Calls for extra bank holidays, even for big occasions and moments in the modern era, tend to be ignored.

Earlier this year, the UK was nearly handed an extra day off after England came close to winning the European Championships.

The Liberal Democrats led calls for an extra bank holiday after England claimed a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the semi-final. Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader and Prime Minister, speaking at the Nato summit in Washington, said: “We should certainly mark the occasion, I don’t want to jinx it. I went to the last Euros final, I don’t want to go through that again.

“I don’t want to jinx anything but we must mark it in some way." The PM went on to say: "But the most important thing is getting it over the line on Sunday.”

Have your say! Should we get an extra bank holiday for this anniversary of the Second World War? Are more bank holidays a good thing - and are there any other occasions where we should get one? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.