Says Chris Roycroft-Davis

But as all Easter travellers know, this weekend is when the railways shut down for engineering work. More than 400 projects have been under way this weekend with services badly hit across the UK.

If you have ever tried to fly away at Easter you won’t need me to remind you of the misery that goes with it: cancellations, queues, fraying tempers, tired and screaming children.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against marking Christ’s death on Good Friday and his Resurrection on Easter Sunday. But a four-day Easter weekend makes no sense when the dates it falls on are such a lottery.

It is not like Christmas, which is a fixed date. Easter is a moveable feast which is determined by astronomical nuances and ancient decree.

It was in 325 AD that a conference of bishops decided Easter Sunday would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. So Easter can be any time between March 22 and April 25.

Easter Monday became a public holiday in 1871 at a time when Victorian workers had few days off and a six-day working week was commonplace.

Today, Easter Monday is just an excuse for idleness for many. If we must have an extra day off, why not do it when the weather’s warmer: a four-day Spring Holiday weekend at the end of May, for example? Yes, please!