FEELING overworked? A little stressed? Well at least it is May so we have had two bank holidays - one at each end of the month - making long weekends in which to meet up with family and friends, or even to host a wedding.

Weddings are weighing rather heavily on my mind as I am being married (finally) at the end of May. Things are going a little awry with the planning (or lack of it) and I can honestly say that I long for the prospect of finally being able to chill out in the garden on warm days with a decent thriller.

Organising this tiny wedding has been a nightmare - with seemingly not enough time. As the "big day" hurtles towards me my stress levels rise as problems with wedding dress colour, the photographer's booking and rehearsal diary date confusion seem impossible to resolve.

And given the political difficulties of my party of late it has been a bit stressful here in Plaistow with my intended walking on those proverbial eggshells.

Given my hunger for some "down-time" - and with no honeymoon planned - it has not escaped my notice that in Europe workers enjoy an average of 11 bank holidays, whereas in Britain we have just eight. In Slovenia they get 18, with Spain and Cyprus getting 16 and only Romanians worse off with seven-and-a-half days.

Last month I joined 72 MPs signing an early day motion calling for a new bank holiday. We said that a well-thought-out date could bring people together for a national celebration, and could improve the work-life balance, and thereby productivity, of employees.

A campaign by the travel agents Thomas Cook to add an extra bank holiday to the British working year calendar has attracted over half a million signatures.

There is even a meeting of minds from across the political spectrum on this issue - with the TUC, Daily Mail and think-tanks like the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Fabian Society building a case for introducing a new bank holiday - the first in 30 years.

For most people getting the work-life balance right is one of the greatest struggles of modern life. For me any time off is a luxury, and I find myself working most evenings and weekends.

I know that parents and carers have similar experiences, and the modern "conveniences" of e-mail and mobile phones mean that people - even family and friends - expect us to be "available" for more and more of the time.

It creates an increasing sense of rush, even rising panic, for us all, and makes the need for time off when we can pursue hobbies, meet up with people or just switch off the mobile and the computer even more essential.

If we do agree on an extra bank holiday, when should it be? The Daily Mail newspaper supports St George's Day on April 23.

My preference is October or November as there are 121 days - 16 weeks - between the August bank holiday and the next public holiday at Christmas. The TUC, along with leading voluntary organisations, wants an extra day in October half term. They want to call it Community Day - a celebration of voluntary community work.

Another possibility that I have mentioned before in these columns is to hold a Veterans Day in November, around the time of Remembrance Sunday, to mark the commitment made by our Armed Forces in previous conflicts, and the sacrifices being made by our serving troops in today's conflicts.

What do you think? Do we need another bank holiday, and if so, when should it be? Let me know your views on this, or any other issue, by writing to Lyn Brown MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA, e-mail me at brownl@parliament.uk or call my office on (020) 7219 6999.