BURNLEY-born Labour MP Shahid Malik has called for St George's Day to be made a national holiday to celebrate Englishness.
He has put down a Commons motion backing the campaign, led by cricketing superstar Ian Botham, to make April 23, the saint's day, an official day of celebration.
The Dewsbury MP wants England to follow the example of Ireland where St Patrick's Day is a public holiday marked each year with celebrations of Irishness.
His early day motion at the House of Commons urges the government to give the day "the importance that it warrants".
Mr Malik, whose father Rafique is former Burnley mayor, said: "St George's Day provides a unique opportunity to celebrate collective Englishness, to take pride in heritage and to highlight the values which define modern England, such as honesty, fairness, tolerance, enterprise and equality.
"This would help create a cohesive, dynamic and stable England which both respects its past and is ready to deal with the challenges and opportunities of the future."
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