I recently wrote to the Government in an appeal to prevent the Early May Bank Holiday being shifted to coincide with VE Day.  As I have previously explained, it is incredibly important to commemorate VE Day, but it should be in addition to, not instead of the Early May Bank Holiday.

I am very disappointed that The Rt. Hon. Lord Henley from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has rejected my suggestion.  He has completely overlooked the arguments I made.  He states that the Government is seeking to avoid cost and disruption, and yet in doing so, it has jeopardised thousands of events that could have generated millions for local economies.

This is a sad loss for my constituents and completely ignores the economic reality of the situation.  We risk alienating some key cornerstones of English culture in the form of the Bank Holiday fêtes, festivals and morris dancers.

It is my sincere hope that as many events as possible will go ahead despite this change.