Sunday trading
Keep Sunday Special (KSS) has launched a campaign to prevent ‘legislation creep’, following Prime Minister David Cameron’s suggested relaxation of the Sunday trading laws ahead of the Olympic Games.
John Ashcroft, research director for KSS, said the rumours were ‘profoundly worrying’ and KSS ‘totally opposes’ such a move, claiming it would be unnecessary and ‘merely a cover for creeping deregulation’ of Sunday.
According to a statement from KSS, more than one million families already have at least one parent working on both weekend days, meaning they have little time to spend with their children when they are not at school.
It pointed to a study by the National Centre for Social Research, which showed Sunday working has a detrimental impact on fathers’ time with their children, especially on playing, reading and teaching.
The KSS statement said, ‘Why is it thought that changes to Sunday trading legislation are needed for the success of the Olympic Games? Has shopping become an Olympic sport? No changes are needed to enable all Olympic visitors to have a great day out enjoying time with family and friends.
‘Nor will the proposed changes do anything to increase economic growth, as all the evidence suggests that existing spending would not increase, but simply be spread over a longer period’.
The KSS statement added: ‘It is KSS’s view that primary legislation would be needed to change the law on Sunday trading. It would be cowardly of the Government to introduce this proposal and shameful indeed if Parliament allowed such a change to be pushed through’.
