THE Archbishop of York has called for a new public holiday to promote a more "all-embracing England".

Dr John Sentamu asked the audience at the Sunday Times Literature Festival in Oxford what it meant to be English, suggesting a public holiday to mark St George's Day could help promote unity.

"Has the time come to make the Feast of St George, the Patron Saint of England, a public holiday?" said the Ugandan-born Archbishop, linking the lack of cohesive national identity with political extremism and reminding his audience of the uniting influence of sports such as football.

He said: "Previously an icon of extreme nationalists, a sign of exclusion tinged with racism, the flag of St George instead became a unifying symbol for a country caught up in the hopes of 11 men kicking a ball around a field."

Warning that lack of cultural identity could lead to a twisted vision being created by those dissatisfied with their heritage, the Archbishop suggested people needed to develop confidence in their sense of Englishness.

Dr Sentamu said: "Where there is no awareness of identity, there is a vacuum to be filled.

"Dissatisfaction with one's heritage creates an opening for extremist ideologies.

"Whether it be the terror of salafi-jihadism or the insidious institutional racism of the British National Party, there are those who stand ready to fill the vacuum with a sanitised identity and twisted vision if the silent majority are reticent in holding back from forging a new identity."

But he emphasised his speech was not intended as a criticism of multi-culturalism, but rather a call for different communities and religious groups to embrace England, and to add new elements to England's fabric.

"Englishness is not diminished by newcomers who each bring with them a new strand to Englands fabric, rather Englishness is emboldened to grow anew," he said.

"The truth is that an all-embracing England, confident and hopeful in its own identity, is something to celebrate. Let us acknowledge and enjoy what we are."