The push for a national holiday on St Andrew's Day has been boosted by the announcement yesterday that Scottish Government staff will get the following Monday off work.
Some 7500 staff will be covered by the move, following the lead set last November 30 by the Scottish Parliament.
Linda Fabiani, the Culture Minister, urged other organisations to consider their own arrangements for marking St Andrew's Day, which falls on November 30 - this year a Sunday - making it "a true cultural celebration for all to enjoy".
Today, the First Minister will follow this up by setting out plans for a revamped version of Tartan Week around the April 6 anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320.
This is expected to be rebranded Scotland Week and to be more business oriented in the US, where the April 6 anniversary has been specially designated by the US Congress.
Trevor Phillips, head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, told The Herald yesterday that while citizenship should not be seen as worthless, it should be marked in ways that fit with British custom rather than borrowing ideas from other countries, and that British citizenship ceremonies in Scotland should have a flavour of Scottish cultural identity. "We don't do oaths in this country, unless you happen to be a boy scout," he said.
Announcing the civil service holiday, Ms Fabiani said: "This is an important signal for the Scottish Government to send out, particularly as we prepare to welcome visitors to Scotland from around the world to join our year-long Homecoming Scotland celebrations in Scotland in 2009."
The minister claimed public opinion research showed strong support for the marking St Andrew's Day.
The move for a holiday was welcomed by Philip Riddle, chief executive of the tourism agency VisitScotland.
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