Church warns against Sunday trading laws being relaxed by the back door

Church leaders fear that Sunday trading laws could be permanently scrapped by the back door, following an “emergency” suspension for the Olympics.

The Westfield shopping centre in east London would likely benefit from relaxed Sunday trading during the Olympics. Photo: AFP

By Martin Beckford10:00PM GMT 18 Mar 2012

Ministers are to rush through a law allowing shops to open round the clock during the Games this summer, so that ticket-holders can visit stores after events and to maximise the economic potential of the world’s biggest sporting event.

But it is feared that the temporary lifting of the current restrictions, which mean large shops can only trade for six hours on Sundays, will become permanent.

Campaigners have raised questions about the speed at which the change is being introduced, as well as the impact on shop assistants and family life.

The Church of England will not oppose longer opening during the Olympics, and some clergy are even cancelling Sunday services so they do not clash with big sporting events.

But the Dean of Southwark, the Very Rev Andrew Nunn, said: “Whenever anything like this happens, there’s always a suspicion that this could be a way of getting a change in on a permanent basis.

“I can kind of understand why they’re thinking about doing it for the Olympic period, but I’m worried about the future.”

Canon Dr Chris Sugden, executive secretary of Anglican Mainstream, said: “It’s patently obvious that this is a test bed for seeing if they can extend it.

“It just breaks up that regular time where people can be together.

“It’s a form of idolatry – it’s the idol that boosting the economy is the absolute which over-rides all other considerations.”

The Rev Sally Hitchiner, curate of St John’s, Ealing, added: “We're concerned it could become a precedent, that we could lose some of the specialness of Sunday.

“Sunday should be a time for relationships, there should be a time when we put some boundaries on consumerism, so you can go to the park and play football with the kids, and take your mum breakfast in bed.”

A Church of England spokesman said: "It is understandable that special arrangements will be made in various ways as the country hosts the Olympics and Paralympics.

"The Church of England would however strongly oppose any further attempts to erode the special nature of Sunday, which legislation still reflects.

“We believe that for family stability and community life, as many people as possible should have the possibility of a common day off every week. The potential detrimental impact on the health of employees, and on small retailers, outweigh any potential benefits of further deregulation.”
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, added that existing Sunday trading restrictions were already "fairly modest" and urged the Government to ensure that the Olympic changes were only temporary.

Under the Sunday Trading Act 1994, shops bigger than 3,000 square feet in England and Wales can only trade for six continuous hours between 10am and 6pm on Sundays. Repeated attempts by large retailers to relax the law further, particularly before Christmas and at Easter, have failed.

But it was belatedly realised that the restrictions would affect the Olympic Games, with five large merchandise shops in the east London park having to shut before a closing ceremony attended by 80,000 people on Sunday, August 12th.

Yesterday George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, confirmed to BBC1’s Andrew Marr show that the law would be changed in time to allow the Olympic stores to remain open, along with shopping centres and supermarkets around the country.

He said: “We've got the whole world coming to London - and the rest of the country - for the Olympics.

“It would be a great shame - particularly when some of the big Olympic events are on Sunday - if the country had a closed for business sign on it.”

When pressed, Mr Osborne refused to rule out a permanent extension of Sunday trading hours, saying: "All I'm proposing at the moment is that we do this for the Olympic Games and the Paralympics."

Under the change, expected to be forced through Parliament before Easter without the standard consultation period, the six-hour rule will be removed for eight weekends over the summer. It is expected to benefit shopping centres near the Olympic site, such as Westfield in Stratford, as well as official merchandise stores.

The Treasury will monitor the results of the experiment keenly to see if it boosts consumer spending.

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, appeared not to rule out the move becoming permanent, telling Sky News: “What is being talked about is during the period of Olympics, of course that is a rather special period in this country coming up this summer and if that is done then of course we’ll have to see the outcome of that and the reactions to that before coming to any wider conclusions.”

But Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor, warned: “Today, on Mothering Sunday, there are mums at home with their kids because Sunday trading means they can have the morning off.
“We should be very careful about breaking Sunday trading.”

Even John Cridland, Director-General of the CBI, which represents businesses, agreed: “The longer term issue of permanent changes to Sunday trading, that’s something I think a different agenda, we’d need to think about that long and hard.”

The pressure group Keep Sunday Special said the proposal called into question David Cameron’s pledge to make his the most family-friendly government.

A statement posted on the KSS website asked: “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.”

Source