Petition · past parliament

Make August 1st of each year a bank holiday - the 'Abolition of Slavery Day'

Closed 3,056 signatures

What the petition asks

August 1st 1834 was the commencement date of the The Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

I think this date should be honoured as an annual bank holiday, to be observed on August 1st of each year (if a weekday), or the first weekday after August 1st.
In the 2011 Census, 3% of the UK population was black - which would be over 2m people today.

For those of us whose families originate from former colonies/the commonwealth, our nations celebrate their independence day for the UK, however the UK should celebrate the day we were rightly given back our freedom.

Timeline

18 Jun 2020 Petition opened for signatures
18 Dec 2020 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 3,056
Status Closed
Opened 18 Jun 2020
Closed 18 Dec 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.