Politicians just can't resist trying to look generous towards us at our expense. When sometimes they give us back some of our own money they make it look as if it were their money being handed out to the people. Mr Cameron's latest fit of pseudo largesse is to grant everyone in Britain a bank holiday for the royal wedding.
People who carp at the £50m cost of this wedding might care to reflect that each day the UK earns around £3.5 bn. Of course you don't have to give up work for a day but most will do so, and of course we don't earn nothing on days when no one goes into work: my bank will still be earning from me even when it is closed by paying next to nothing on my money; and since people have to eat on a bank holiday they'll buy more food the day before.
It should also be said that since this 'free' holiday comes between Easter Monday and the communist 1st May holiday, many people will decide to make what Italians call the bridge: you can go away for 11 days at a cost of three days' holiday. Indeed, getting away from the televised schlock this is likely to be seems like a good idea.
One paper estimates the total cost to the economy as £5 bn, which makes the £50m look fairly good value.
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