Backlash against Chancellor’s ‘open all hours’ Sundays
PLANS to liberalise Sunday trading laws and allow supermarkets to open all day will be ‘detrimental’ to family life, it was claimed yesterday.
The Chancellor will today confirm that councils and elected mayors will be given new powers to allow large stores to open for more than six hours on Sunday.
He believes the plan will boost the economy, extend choice and enable stores to compete with online competitors.
But the move has been strongly criticised by trade unions, small shops and the Church – which believes a shopping free-for-all would be ‘detrimental to us all’.
Yesterday business minister Anna Soubry accused critics of ‘harking back to a world that didn’t exist’. She added: ‘You can have family life and still have shopping.’
And she claimed Sundays had been ‘the most miserable day of the week’ before the introduction of Sunday trading in 1994.
‘The only thing to look forward to was Sing Something Simple on the radio,’ she said, adding: ‘Goodness me, if that didn’t sum up a miserable Sunday.’
Under existing laws, large stores are limited to opening for six hours between the hours of 10am and 6pm on Sundays. Small shops with a floor area of less than 3,000 square feet can open all day.
The drive to liberalise opening hours is supported by garden centres, DIY stores, some supermarkets and big shopping centres.
The Church of England has condemned the plans, saying they are ‘quite contrary to’ David Cam- eron’s vision of a Big Society. A spokesman said: ‘A common day of rest is important for family life, community life and personal well-being.’
James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, said Sunday trading laws gave small stores a ‘crucial advantage’ and pointed out that liberalising Sunday trading hours ‘would make some small stores unviable’.
Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances O’Grady warned that the move would ‘take precious family time away from shop workers’. And Michael Trend, of the Keep Sunday Special campaign, called the deci-
‘Take precious family time away’
sion ‘deeply disappointing’, and accused Mr Cameron of shifting his position on the issue. Earlier this year one of the Prime Minister’s team wrote to Mr Trend claiming he had ‘no current plans’ to change the law.
The decision to devolve responsibility for Sunday opening hours to local authorities means that Sunday trading is only likely to be liberalised in some parts of the country
And Miss Soubry said ministers would listen to critics during a consultation on the issue. But she claimed the move was needed to stop British retailers being left behind international rivals.
However Labour leadership favourite Andy Burnham vowed to do all he could to block the move, saying: ‘Sundays are the only day people in shops can bank on time with their kids. I will oppose this all the way.’