Britain should have a "spectacular and magnificent" day of national celebration, the Government was urged today.

Britain should have a "spectacular and magnificent" day of national celebration, the Government was urged today.

Families in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland should celebrate Britannia Day on the Sunday following the Queen's official birthday in June, Tory Andrew Rosindell (Romford) said.

In March the Government's citizenship review, commissioned by the Prime Minister and headed by Lord Goldsmith, proposed a new British national day to be set up by 2012.

But despite Gordon Brown's enthusiasm for the idea, the sentiment had been "carelessly cast aside by the Government", Mr Rosindell said.

Leading a Westminster Hall debate, he told MPs: "Sadly at the moment it looks as if proposals for a national day have gone the same way as many other policies proposed by this Government; they have been quietly dropped in the quagmire.

"It certainly seems that this proposal has fallen victim to Government procrastination and indecision."

Mr Rosindell said it seemed that every country had a national day apart from Britain. This week alone, Angola, Cambodia, Burma and North Cyprus will celebrate their national days, he said.

He told MPs: "The Sunday following Trooping the Colour could be named, for example, Britannia Day with a national service of thanksgiving held in a different city every year; every church holding similar special services throughout the country and elsewhere around the world where British communities or those of British descent live and work."

Special celebrations could be held across the country, with voluntary organisations, sports clubs and church groups organising their own unique events based around a British theme, he said.

This would be a "spectacular weekend of parties, pageantry and patriotism".

MPs from across the parties passionately agreed with Mr Rosindell.

Tory Daniel Kawczynski, whose constituency of Shrewsbury and Atcham is close to the England/Wales border, said a British day would remind everyone they were "all one people" despite devolution.

And Labour's Anthony Wright (Great Yarmouth) said that a "Great British Weekend" would bring in millions of pounds for the economy.

But SNP's Pete Wishart (Perth and N Perthshire) said that only 3% of Scottish people recognised themselves as British.

He suggested that the Prime Minister was originally so keen on the idea of a national day because "it was a real problem for him" that he was a Scottish man in charge of Britain.

Mr Wishart said it would be best for the Government to approve an "Englishness day" instead.

He said: "I think the day that the Union Jack comes down off this House and the St George's Cross goes up is the day that our two nations will have arrived at a 21st century relationship."

Justice Minister Michael Wills said that national identity was "crucial to our sense of belonging". He said it was important to be "pluralistic" because Britain was "unique" in its internal differences.

But he was unable to respond to the question of a British Day due to lack of time in the debate.