(Harrow East)
(Con):...One important issue is that, while Eid
advances each year with the end of Ramadan, generally speaking it
falls at the end of June or thereabouts. That is quite helpful to
break up the year during the summer. Equally, Diwali is between
October and November, as has been said, and breaks up the period
between the August bank holiday and Christmas. I would go further,
because the hon. Gentleman mentioned many of the great religions of
the world, but not Judaism. I think we should have a holiday based
around Judaism as well. That could fall on either Rosh Hashanah or
Yom Kippur, both of which tend to occur in September...
...I have mentioned Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, and I think a
consultation with the Jewish community would be well received. It
is a requirement among people of the Jewish faith to fast, go to
the synagogue and pray, breaking their fast at the end—funnily
enough, there are many similarities between the Muslim and Jewish
faiths on that particular issue. During those times, it is
fundamental that someone who is Jewish observes both Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur, even if they do not follow all the rest of the
religious holidays...
(Harrow West)
(Lab/Co-op): It is a pleasure to serve under your
chairmanship, Mrs Main, and to take part in the debate. I
strongly echo the support we have heard for public holidays on
Diwali, Dussehra, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. I find myself
agreeing with the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman)—a
most unusual position for me—that the two most important days of
the Jewish calendar are also very worthy of reference in a debate
such as this..
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Kelly
Tolhurst):...I will just mention a couple of points that
my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East made. He is a strong
champion for his constituency and it was great to hear him also
talking about Jewish holidays and his constituency. He mentioned
the need for employers to understand and to be sympathetic to the
needs of particular individuals, and we will continue to monitor
that...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
