The act sets down that Easter Sunday must fall on a fixed day – the Sunday following the second Saturday in April
Three years ago, Easter Sunday fell on 23 March. This year, it is more than a month later, on 24 April. The lurching date of Easter – which since the fourth century has been set as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox – has long been a source of mingled charm, irritation and, when (as this year) it falls exceptionally late, downright inconvenience to businesses, schools and the holiday season. There is, however, a remedy to hand. It takes the form of the Easter Act 1928, a prescient piece of legislation which is already on the statute book, ready and waiting for a government brave enough to issue the implementation order. The act sets down that Easter Sunday must fall on a fixed day – the Sunday following the second Saturday in April. The effect would be that Easter Sunday, instead of falling on any date between 22 March and 25 April as now, would fall in the narrower window of 9 to 15 April. This year, if the act had been in force, Easter would have been last Sunday – resulting in a decent working interval between it and the royal wedding. All this could happen if the government chose to do it. It is a myth that the churches have a veto; the act merely requires that "regard shall be had" to their opinion. Churches would rightly still be free to celebrate Easter on the day of their choice rather than over the public holiday – as the Orthodox church already does. The secular majority, however, would at last have an annual spring break that makes a bit more sense.