We don't want seven days of shopping

We are firmly against the extension of flexible trading laws brought in for the Olympics. The laws were relaxed for the duration of the Olympics and Paralympics - in order to help retailers make the most of tourists with cash in their pockets and a limited time on site.

However, rather than inspiring us to embrace another day of shopping, a survey has revealed huge opposition

The rules

The Sunday Trading laws dictate that the vast majority of shops can only be open for six hours on a Sunday - and they cannot be open before 10am or after 6pm. A Bill was passed earlier this year so that retailers don't have to stick by these rules during the Olympics.

Outdated

The rules were traditionally to ensure that those who own and run shops were able to attend church - either in the morning or the evening or both - so that a national of shopkeepers could continue to be one of churchgoers.

The changing nature of society has weakened the religious argument. It isn't difficult for any retailer who chooses to stay open to find a non-churchgoer, or someone from a religion which celebrates in a different way, to take charge for the day. The fact that retailers are able to trade at all on Sunday also makes it difficult to argue that the rules are vital in order to preserve a day of rest.

So you might have thought we'd be ready to embrace Sunday trading. However, you'd be wrong.

Opposition

The survey, by Ipsos MORI, reported by the Telegraph, revealed that 52% of people would be against the idea of freeing up trade on a Sunday. Meanwhile 12% are unsure about the idea, and little more than a third (36%) would welcome the idea of Sunday as a major shopping day.

The older people are, the more likely they are to object. The 55-65 year age group was 63% against the idea, and the over 65s were 66% against. Meanwhile, only 42% of those aged 25-34 and 35% of those aged 15-24 were opposed to liberalising trading on Sunday.

A separate survey of shop workers by union Usdaw found that they were overwhelmingly against the expansion of trading hours. Some 51% say they already come under pressure from their employer to work Sundays, and 73% say they would come under more pressure to work Sundays if shops were allowed to open for longer.

In an employment environment when the employer wields the power, there is every chance that longer trading hours would mean more people working more hours that they were unhappy with.

The future

However, this is not necessarily always going to be the case. As society changes, there will be an increasing number of people who are less attached to the five day working week. It's not impossible to imagine the stay-at-home parent looking for a weekend shift when their other half is around the care for children. Likewise, it's easy to see a time when there will be thousands of retired shop workers who wouldn't mind returning for one shift a week to help make ends meet.

There is already the customer demand for it. Sasha Birkin, associate director at Ipsos Marketing, said: "This generation of youngsters have spent most of their shopping lives post the 1994 Sunday Trading introduction and have grown up accustomed to unrestricted trading hours on other days of the week. The research shows that the younger generation of shoppers are less conservative than their parents and less attached to the idea of keeping Sunday special."

Families with children were also more likely to favour Sunday trading - with 42% of them supporting a change. For some busy families, the trading laws are simply there to cause them a headache when they run out of nappies at 7pm on a Sunday.

Plus, anyone with a computer can already go online and shop at any time of the day or night, so it begs the question of whether restricting opening hours at all is redundant.

No change

Those who argue that Sunday is a bit different, and should remain so, will be relieved to hear that the rules are not set for a change. When he announced the Olympic changes, Business Minister Norman Lamb said: "I want to make it clear that this is a temporary measure and not a test case for a permanent relaxation of the rules in the future."

And they can expect to be held to this promise. Usdaw General Secretary John Hannett added:"While the Government has said this Bill is only a temporary measure, Usdaw will monitor the situation very closely and we will campaign hard against any further deregulation should the Coalition fail to live up to its commitment."

But what do you think? Let us know in the comments.



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