Calls are growing for an extra Bank Holiday in 2025 to mark a ...

The vast majority of British people would back there being a bank holiday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 2025. The results of a new survey come a month after the government told the M.E.N. it wasn't happening.

As many as 73 percent backed having a special day, whilst just 13 percent were opposed to a day marking the end of global hostilities and peace at last, according to a poll carried out by The Mirror. But most Brits also agreed that younger generations in the UK did not know enough about the sacrifices made during the war that paved the way for life today.

VE Day, Victory in Europe Day, celebrates the end of World War II on 8 May each year. In 2020, the early May bank holiday was moved from 4 May to 8 May so that it would fall on the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

However a government spokesman told the M.E.N. last month that the UK will not have an extra bank holiday next year. A spokesperson from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) confirmed that the celebrations to commemorate VE day will not involve an extra bank holiday in 2025.

They said: "The 80th anniversaries of VE and VJ Day will be moments of huge significance for our country, and the Government is committed to commemorating the occasions appropriately. That is why we have announced more than £10 million for events."

In the survey for The Mirror people were asked “do you believe that younger generations know enough, too little or too much about the sacrifices made by their predecessors during WWII?” Of those questioned 66 percent said they thought young people were not as aware as they should of what British people did in WWII to keep us free.

And just 20 percent believed the younger generation knows the right amount about the suffering and sacrifice British people endured during the war. And VJ day - or Victory over Japan Day, marks the end of World War II, when President Harry Truman declared hostilities were over on August 14 1945, sparking worldwide celebrations.

The survey results show that most people would like an extra day off work to mark the 80th Victory in Europe (VE) Day or Victory over Japan (VJ) Day in 2025. VE Day marks the end of war in Europe, which was declared by the US and Great Britain with the unconditional surrender of Hitler’s successor Admiral Karl Donitz on May 8 1945.

World War II was the deadliest conflict the world has ever known. As many as 80 million people are believed to have been killed in World War II, among them 25 million military personnel killed, whilst 55 million civilians are thought to have died. The 80th anniversary of both days next year will be the last significant milestone that surviving WW2 veterans will be able to take part in themselves.