Imagine a world where August is a universal month off for the UK — a time for rest, family, holidays and no work.

It’s a practice favoured in continental Europe and supporters argue that the shared break causes less disruption, improves mental health, and can even increase long-term productivity. However, there are doubts it would work in the UK with critics raising concerns about economic slowdown, service disruption and inequality.

So, should we take August off? Economist Hamish McRae, journalist Emily Watkins and French-British comedian Tatty Macleod offer their perspective.

It’s a seductive notion – that there should be a clear break in the summer when people step back from the daily grind and focus on what they really want to do outside of work. But like so many seductive ideas, there are pitfalls.

From an economic perspective, there are really two issues here. One is how long we should work: how many hours a year, what’s the ideal balance between work and leisure, and so on. The other is whether people should, as far as practicable, take their holidays at the........

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