Surprisingly, Saint Andrew's day is not officially a holiday at present. Why not?

I couldn't figure out at first why my ISP had what at first sight appeared to be an error icon placed on their logo on their site today. I then realised that the strange looking round symbol was a saltire and the figures beside it were some kind of pipers or Scots Guards.

Next to Google where they often decorate their logo on their home page for special days and holidays. Nothing. So a quick search for "saint andrews day" revealed that it was in fact Saint Andrews Day today (me of Scots ancestry too not knowing that: the shame!).

Anyway, it turns out that despite my faint recollection of some English folk complaining that everybody else in the UK gets a holiday on their Saints day but them (maybe I'm blaming them in the wrong), it turns out St Andrews day isn't a holiday in Scotland either - at least not unless you're prepared to swap it for one of your other bank holidays. The Scotsman rightly points out that few would choose a cold, wet November day over a potentially beautiful summers day in August, or a spring holiday in May.

It should be a holiday. The UK as a whole gets less holidays than the rest of the UK so why not create an extra one in each region for the respective saints days?

It's something the Lib Dem-Labour government should have taken on when they had the chance instead of letting the SNP be the ones to bring it forward. While, as someone who believes in the United Kingdom, I find it difficult to trust the motives of the SNP, for once I actually find myself in agreement with Alex Salmond and co., who have promised to make it a national holiday. In fact I even like their idea of a 2-month "winter festival" type thing starting with Saint Andrews Day, taking in Hogmanay and running through to Burns Night (25th January). Apparently they just haven't got round to it yet. It strikes me as odd that they couldn't find time for this but managed to find time to rebrand the Scottish Executive for example. Priorities people!