Politics · United Kingdom · 1 hr ago
Foreign Office calendar lists 110 awareness dates but omits Remembrance Sunday
A Foreign Office calendar lists 110 awareness dates for British diplomats in 2026.
It covers subjects including gender identity, sexuality, wellbeing and mental health.
The calendar includes Remembrance Day on November 11, but leaves out Remembrance Sunday, D-Day and VE Day.
Remembrance Sunday honours those who died serving in the armed forces and is marked at the Cenotaph in London.
A government opposition minister criticised the calendar for giving space to niche awareness days while omitting major national commemorations.
The Foreign Office said it has supported national remembrance commemorations for decades.
The calendar concerns officials’ observances; no change to the Remembrance Sunday event is described.
A Foreign Office calendar for 2026 lists 110 awareness days, weeks and months but omits Remembrance Sunday, D-Day and VE Day.
The calendar includes four transgender observance days, two intersex days and 20 days for mental health and neurodiverse conditions.
Remembrance Day on November 11 is included.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Charlie Dewhirst criticised the calendar, while a Foreign Office spokesman said the department has supported national remembrance commemorations for decades.
- Who
- The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which produced the calendar, and shadow Cabinet Office minister Charlie Dewhirst, who criticised it.
- What
- A 2026 Foreign Office calendar lists 110 awareness dates but omits Remembrance Sunday, D-Day and VE Day.
- When
- The calendar is for 2026. The article was published on November 6, 2026.
- Where
- The calendar is for Britain's diplomats. Remembrance Sunday will be marked at The Cenotaph on Whitehall, London.
- Why
- The sources do not state why the calendar omits those commemorations.
Charlie Dewhirst
Foreign Office
Calendar's contents
Charlie Dewhirst
Dewhirst called it a calendar of niche awareness days and criticised its focus on pronouns and identity politics.
Foreign Office
The FCDO said it has supported national remembrance commemorations for several decades.
Remembrance commemorations
Charlie Dewhirst
Dewhirst criticised the omission of Remembrance Sunday.
Foreign Office
The FCDO said it has supported national remembrance commemorations for several decades.
The Foreign Office calendar lists 110 awareness days, weeks and months.
The Daily Mail published its report on the calendar.
- Awareness dates
- 110
- Trans observance days
- 4
- Intersex days
- 2
- Mental health and neurodiverse-condition days
- 20
- Remembrance Day
- November 11
- Comparison
- The Cabinet Office recognised 21 awareness days, weeks and months in 2025.
What people are saying
It's a calendar of niche awareness days with pronoun days and identity politics.
No one knows what half this stuff means, but the lanyard class has made sure it fills officials' calendars.
The FCDO has supported national remembrance commemorations for several decades.