France’s prime minister proposed on Tuesday the elimination of two public holidays from the country’s annual calendar — possibly Easter Monday and the day marking the Allied victory over the Nazis — to save money in next year’s budget.

The measure most likely to rankle the French was a proposal to scrap two national holidays: Easter Monday and May 8, which commemorates the end of the Second World War in Europe and is often used as a “bridge” by the French to take a four-day weekend in the middle of spring.

He said the various bank holidays had turned the month of May into a gruyère - a Swiss cheese full of holes - although he added he was open to other suggestions. Bayrou runs the risk of having his budget voted down in parliament in the autumn,