Happy Holidays?

There was much mirth, including here, when it became known that Tory vehicles had toured Ealing Southall proclaiming in various languages that Muslim, Hindu and Sikh festivals were to be made public holidays by the Tories.

But now, that party’s “Quality of Life Commission” (don’t laugh, it’s real) has let it be known that its impending report is going to advocate that “local communities” be given the power to designate three public holidays in their respective localities. In other words, the Tories are going to go around Asian areas at the next Election making this same promise all over again, adjusted according to how Muslim, Hindu or Sikh the particular constituency is.

And who is to make this decision, as to what are to be the new holidays? If this lunatic thing must happen at all, then it should at least be done by the elected local authority. Dream on! Cameron and his courtiers despise local government even by the standards of national politicians, and that is saying quite something. Specifically, they hate their own party’s many Councillors, living proof that, if people are going to vote Tory at all, then they are going to vote for Tories utterly unlike Cameron, Osborne, Gove, Vaizey and the rest of them.

So whoever might eventually decide that people working (not necessarily living, presumably) in Ealing Southall are to be given days off for Eid, Diwali and Guru Nanak’s Birthday, it is certainly not going to be Ealing Borough Council.