Closed petition The 23 June should be designated as Independence Day, and celebrated annually.

Petition progress

View all updates for this petition, with the most recent first.

• 17 October 2016

  Parliament debated this petition

  • Watch the debate on parliamentlive.tv
  • Read the transcript of the debate
• 14 October 2016

  Related activity

  MPs to debate e-petitions on the UK's exit from the EU

  The Petitions Committee has scheduled a debate on six petitions relating to the UK's exit from the European Union, including this one.

  The debate will take place on Monday 17 October at 4.30pm in Westminster Hall.

  You can watch the debate live on Parliament TV: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Commons

  The six petitions that will be debated are:

  E-petition 133618: "Invoke article 50 of the Lisbon treaty immediately"
  E-petition 125333: "Repeal the 1972 European Communities Act immediately on EU referendum out vote"
  E-petition 123324: "The 23 June should be designated as Independence Day, and celebrated annually."
  E-petition 154593: "Not to allow freedom of movement as part of any deal with the EU after Brexit"
  E-petition 133767: "Ask the Government not to invoke article 50 of the Lisbon treaty"
  E-petition 133540: "Let Parliament decide whether or not we remain a member of the European Union"

  What will happen?

  Paul Scully MP, a Member of the Petitions Committee will open the debate. Other MPs will then take part.

  MPs can discuss one or more of the six petitions and, if they wish, ask questions about the government's position on the issue or press the government to take action. A government minister will respond to the points raised at the end of the debate.

  Petition debates in Westminster Hall cannot directly change the law or result in a vote to implement the request of a petition. They are a way to help raise the profile of a campaign and could influence decision-making in Government and Parliament.

  Other recent work related to your petition in Parliament:

  You may also be interested to know that on Wednesday 12 October, MPs debated Parliamentary scrutiny of leaving the EU.

  You can watch the debate on Parliament TV: http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/9da7b790-789f-46f3-8fbd-b0cc29e949fb?in=12:56:50

  You can read the debate on the Hansard website:
  https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2016-10-12/debates/F327EC64-3777-4D40-A98D-BEC2E11763A2/ParliamentaryScrutinyOfLeavingTheEU?utm_source=petitions

  Who are we?

  We are a group of cross-party MPs called the Petitions Committee. We are independent from Government. You can find out more about us on our website: http://www.parliament.uk/petitions-committee/role

  You can follow us on Twitter: @HoCpetitions

• 3 September 2016

  Petition closed

• 14 July 2016

  Government responded to this petition

  There are no current plans to create another public holiday. Whilst an additional bank holiday may benefit some sectors, the cost to the economy of an additional bank holiday remains considerable.

  Read the response in full

  Over the years there have been various suggestions from the public for new bank holidays, such as a new national day to promote a British identity to reflect the different histories and traditions which vary from country to country. The Government regularly receives requests for additional bank and public holidays to celebrate a variety of occasions. However, there are no current plans to create another permanent public holiday. The current pattern is well established and accepted. Whilst an additional bank holiday may benefit some communities and sectors, the cost to the economy of an additional bank holiday remains considerable.

  The most recent assessment following an Impact Assessment (IA) for the additional holiday for the Diamond Jubilee is that a bank holiday (across the UK as a whole) costs employers around £1.2bn.

  Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

• 25 June 2016

  Government will respond to this petition

  This petition got more than 10,000 signatures meaning that government will respond to it.

• 3 March 2016

  Petition published

  This petition can now be signed.

  If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

  If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

  This petition will stay open until 3 September 2016.