Several commentators have suggested that the temporary relaxation of the Sunday trading laws during the Olympics was a smokescreen for making them permanent, and those rumblings are becoming louder, as government plans to do just that are unveiled.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles was quoted last weekend as saying he would be willing to look at the impact of the temporary relaxation on trade, currently for six hours’ trading only for large shops, following calls from the Institute of Directors (IoD) business lobby to end Sunday trading restrictions.
While Mark Wallace of the IoD said: “We know there are people out of work or underemployed who desperately want more opportunities and we know there is an appetite among consumers to shop during normal hours on Sundays, so it is silly to have a rule that holds both groups back.”
However, many groups are opposed to the move, Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s, Justin King, wrote in a letter to the Sunday Telegraph that “maintaining Sunday’s special status has great merit.”
While in a separate, joint letter also to the Sunday Telegraph, the general secretary of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), the Bishop of Oxford and the chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores said they had been “alarmed” to hear that ministers were considering making the change permanent.
The letter also said that the writers believe that longer Sunday trading would undermine small shops, bring little economic benefit and would have a “detrimental impact” on family life.
Bishop Pritchard, who speaks for the Church in the House of Lords, added: “The danger is that we run into a twenty-four seven shopping society where the natural rhythms of life are gradually obliterated.”