Mr Deputy Speaker We often hear from Parliamentarians in this House, and from those in the Other Place that radical and controversial ideas and legislation should be piloted before being introduced. I am therefore delighted to be able to say that 50% of this bill, the St George’s Day and St David’s Day Bill, has been piloted this year. A quirk of this year’s calendar meant that the nearest working day to St George’s Day, April the 23rd, was indeed a bank holiday, and thanks to the Royal Wedding and the Prime Minister’s generosity to the nation, we will also have had nine not eight bank holiday’s. But why, Mr Deputy Speaker, should we make a St George’s Day Bank holiday, and an extra bank holiday permanent? It was six hundred and sixty one years ago that Saint George became the Patron Saint of England. His chivalry, values and story being seen by King Edward the Third as a better fit to the England that he wanted to rule, than the previous Patron Saint, Edward the Confessor. However it was more than a thousand years before this that Saint George lived. He was of course an immigrant, a Roman soldier born in modern Turkey, perhaps with a colouring a little closer to mine than most would imagine. We know him most as the famous dragon slayer. A man whose bravery freed a town from the tyranny of a vicious dragon. A man whose christianity led him to be persecuted and eventually executed on the day we now celebrate in his name. A man who was adopted and taken into the hearts of the English for the values he represented, not who he was or where he was from. Although celebrated before 1350 it was only after his adoption as Patron Saint that Saint George became more engrained into England and the national psyche. It is said that his popularity and the celebration of St George’s day increased substantially after Henry the fifth rallied his troops by invoking his name before victory at the battle of Agincourt. “Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George’”. wrote Shakespeare in commemoration. It is perhaps fitting then that the great Bard himself was born on St George’s day in 1564, in my own constituency of Stratford on Avon, and of course would also die on the same day 52 years later. Today though, Saint George represents part of our often under celebrated national identity. To many, Saint George’s Day is a celebration of all that our great nation represents. At the last election every major party vowed to promote National Integration and social cohesion. A national day, celebrated by all, regardless of their background or heritage, will only help this. As my Rt Hon friend the Secretary of State for Education has said, we must all encourage our children to learn about our nations past, the bad, and the good and we must celebrate our shared history. What better way to do this than a national day, officially recognised by the government of this country? For those that decry this, those who say that it is a Christian holiday and not representative of our multicultural nation, those who say it plays to the fringe right of this country, I am afraid I must disagree with you. Saint George, after all, is the only Christian Saint to appear in the Koran, and the only Saint to have a Mosque bearing his name. Even in the world of faith he is not uniquely Christian. And yes, the Fringe Right may well have hijacked our symbols of patriotism, something which should sadden us all. However today, in this House, we can go a long way towards reclaiming them. Remember what our Prime Minister said on Saint George’s day last year “Today we are celebrating St George's Day and we are reclaiming St George's Day as an important day for good reasons," “And one of the most important reasons is that we should be reclaiming the flag from the BNP and saying the flag belongs to the English people, all of them." He continued “People who come to this country and want to feel part of our country, to belong to something, celebrating St George's Day will help us all feel that sense of belonging.” As the son of immigrants to this country, a son of parents who fled persecution to find safe haven here, and now as an adult, who feels they are part of this country, who does belong to something. I could not have put it better myself. It is also important to put another myth to bed. The idea that an extra bank holiday will affect our productivity and be economically damaging. As a businessman, an entrepreneur who has built a strong and enduring business, I totally reject the idea that one extra bank holiday will have this effect. The working people of this country will get the work they need done, regardless of an extra day away from the office. The whole concept of work has changed, it is no longer about turning up at a particular time and then leaving at another time, it is instead about outputs, about what is done, not how long it is done for. And then there are the economic benefits. This April included an extra bank holiday and saw retail sales increase by 5.2% as shoppers took advantage. Then there are our local pubs and our great British brewers who would undoubtably attract many who wish to toast St George and in Wales St David, just as many already toast St Patrick. With the creation of special events, building on those that already occur across the country, our leisure and tourism industries would also do well. In Stratford we already celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday on the nearest weekend to the 23rd, and I am sure the turnout would be all the larger, and local businesses would do all the better, if the date was set in stone every year, rather than having to be moved around. We must also put this in context. With only eight days holiday we are the 16th lowest in Europe. France and Sweden have eleven, Germany twelve and even the notoriously hardworking Americans have thirteen. Are critics really saying that these extra bank holidays are pulling down their economies? Finally Mr Deputy Speaker, this is a policy with true cross party and more importantly huge public support. On St George’s Day this year I teamed up with Facebook’s Democracy UK page to ask users if they supported this bill. I am told that the response rate was 800% higher than they would usually expect and I am delighted to say that an incredible 89% of those respondents supported this bill. My Honourable Friend, the Member for Erewash, has been presented with a petition of three thousand six hundred and seventy four signatures to present to the House asking for a Saint George’s Day Bank Holiday. Other members have received emails from constituents asking for their support with this bill. Whilst in the world of research YouGov found that 68% of people thought it appropriate for the country to have an extra bank holiday, with St George’s day being the most popular option for that new day. Today, Mr Deputy Speaker, we have an opportunity. An opportunity to do something great for this nation. An opportunity to tell the public that we are listening to what they want. An opportunity to deliver real benefits both socially and economically. I hope colleagues will join me in supporting it and turning these opportunities into reality. Thank you.