Should we scrap bank holidays to save billions?

Economists have suggested scrapping bank holidays in the UK in order to boost the country's sturggling economy by as much as £19bn a year.

While most of us look forward to the extra days off, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said they should be more evenly spread out across the year to stop businesses "losing momentum". In 2012, including the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, there will be five holidays between April and June in the UK, although not in Scotland where Easter Monday is not a holiday. Across the whole year, England and Wales will typically have eight, Scotland nine and Northern Ireland 10. The CEBR said each holiday cost the UK economy £2.3bn, totalling around £19bn across a normal year. C...