Talking Point: Should King Charles’s coronation be a bank holiday?
Downing Street has indicated that plans may be underway to arrange a bank holiday for King Charles’s coronation.
The ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 6 next year in Westminster Abbey. The palace has said the event will be “rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry” but will also ”reflect the monarch’s role today”.
Regarding the possibility of a bank holiday, the PM’s official spokesperson said that the coronation “will be a historic event, watched and celebrated by millions across the country,” and that they are “carefully considering plans now that the palace has confirmed the date”.
The spokesperson noted that ”all options remain on the table”.
Speaking with the BBC earlier today, business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg backed calls for a bank holiday.
He said, “I think that having a bank holiday for a coronation seems to me the eminently suitable thing to do [...] but there is a process that has to be gone through and it has to be approved, ultimately, by the Privy Council.”
While the prospect of a bank holiday is welcome news to many, it comes with a sizable economic effect. Government modelling suggests the cost of an extra bank holiday could amount to £1.36 billion. However, PwC thinks that this could be an overestimation, and the true figure is closer to £800 million.
Do you think that there should be a bank holiday for King Charles’s coronation? Let us know in the comments below for the chance to be featured on the ES website.
On Monday we asked: Why are Londoners not exercising?
On Instagram, many users highlighted that the cost of living is a key factor.
@catherinejennings said: “Nowhere near as much time to exercise anymore now that people are working more to pay their bills. No energy or hours left in the day with how hard people are working.”
Similarly, @pinar_necati said: “The worry of cost of living is affecting mental health and I’d imagine it’s hard to find motivation”.
Others, such as Johanne Labansen and MJ Cheongy on Facebook, suggested that there is too much crime on London’s streets and that this may put people off from leaving their homes to exercise.
