To think it's time to abolish Sunday trading rules in England

Aren't they also closed on Saturday afternoons in Germany?

I worked retail as a student and have worked over weekends many times in my professional job too. I actually like it as I like having days off during the week when places are quieter. My husband has also worked in hospitality his whole working life. I don’t think we need the state to decide when our shops can open. If places aren’t busy on Sundays they can choose to close.

I think it's a good idea as shops struggle enough from competition from online.

It would give shops a fighting chance of staying open on the high street if they could trade longer on one of the busiest retail days.

I've worked in retail for 20 + years

We still work a full day Sunday. I don’t know why people can’t grasp that we are still in when the store is closed to customers. How do you think the shelves get filled ready for Monday, fairies?

But not if you work in hospitality, a cinema, bowling alley, etc. The sacred caste of retail is for some reason the only one deemed worthy of this special day of rest.

Anyway I don’t mind saying when everything was shut on Sundays during my childhood they were as boring as fuck. Church and then mum and dad dozing on the couch. Bugger all else to do or places to go and no public transport so visiting people or places was out of the question. I’m glad there are things to do now,

It's not all about you though.

It's our tradition. Day of rest. Family time.

I've said for years that they should increase it to 8 hours. 9-5 would mean that people could shop when it suits them, employees would be able to work a full day for a full salary and it would help the economy.

Just anecdotally, having worked in retail on and off since I was 16, Sunday shifts are notoriously hard to fill. I work in one of the smaller convenience supermarkets so we are open till 11pm on Sundays and if someone goes sick or on annual leave it's really hard to get cover. I'd bet a lot of money if you asked the staff in the big shop if they want to start working late on a Sunday 99% would say no, they're no different from people working in any other sector

Thing is, there are already lots of jobs that allow people to work more hours at weekends and many of them are in sectors that have chronic recruitment problems, like care and hospitality. People's revealed preference is not to work in jobs that offer weekend heavy hours. There isn't any evidence that we have a group of people wanting to work longer hours at weekends who are currently being prevented from doing so by Sunday trading laws.

I didn't ask anyone for anything - I asked the OP.

You are not the OP.

Kindly disengage so that the focus of the subject is not you and whatever grudge you have against Christians.

I can tell you're the type who likes to have the last word and be a real keyboard warrior.

Have a word with yourself.

I will not engage with you further.

You can still do that. You don't have to go to the shops just because they're open.

What has owing got to do with it. You started a conversation demanding to know why somebody thought something. People have happily engaged and let you know where that comes from. Your response is to now act like such a conversation is below you, and like it's some secret you need to keep.

Nobody owed you anything either. Nobody used that as an excuse in a place where the only reason to post is to engage, not waste the space saying you refuse to do so.

Thought they had been abolished years ago given the amount of traffic on the road on Sundays these days.

I have and I don't owe any explanation to you.

Believe what you will. Live your life. Go in peace. Have a good day.

There’s nothing to stop you ‘just chilling’, regardless of whether shops are open or not. This is also true of people who want to go to church, make a roast dinner for the family, or spend time with the rellies. There doesn’t need to be a law stopping everyone else from going to the shops in order to facilitate this.

I’d like a relaxation of sunday trading. It’s increasingly looking like an artificial throttle on the economy and people’s lives.

Sources have been given. I am not a time traveller, I cant go back to before I found the thread and/or the sources were given and ask back then.

You haven’t done any research, or have any basis. Pretending the lack of trying changes this is pretty amusing. The basis that most of the country is now not Christian came from real information that was put out there and is just well known.

What about all the people who have to work, so you can "relax"

There are 7 days to shop, Sunday trading is hardly restrictive, major stores can open 6 hours and smaller ones whenever they like.

For 6 days, stores can open whenever they like.

Personally, i'd go back to No Sunday opening, the country was a lot nicer place, more family time, quieter town centres, less traffic.... a time to relax, as might say.

I'm not here to do your research for you so trust me "bro" or don't.

Believe what you will but it is interesting how you ask from sources from me but not from the OP who stated that most aren't Christians.

So, trust me bro is okay as long as it fits with your preference. Got it.

But they are things that exist. Unlike your source, which is "trust me bro" about what you have just pulled out of nowhere.

And you could be right, the other things could be wrong. But there's still one side that makes sense to believe until proven otherwise, and one side that is stilly to believe until proven otherwise in this type of situation.

for me, it is annoying when I return to the U.K.

I like the anti-consumerist nature of the closure, but realistically working people get 2 days off a week, plus evenings... and in the U.K. a lot of the places are closed for the majority of that time. That doesn't make sense to me.

Where I live, working people want to go out with their families (not just to shops, but in general) on their weekends and evenings, so that is exactly when the busiest time for businesses are. My local city center is full of families, children, parents, grandparents etc, on evenings after work and Saturday and Sunday... but quiet during 9-5 Monday through Friday.

I find it very strange that in the UK, aside from Saturday, the main time businesses open, is the exact time the largest group of customers can't go...

People may say "think of the workers!" but, I'd wager there are many, especially students and younger employees, who would love to pick up more hours around their studies/other commitments.

Great, all is good then? 😆

No doubt but a census isn't the arbiter of truth, for a variety of reasons, and going to church, or not, doesn't equate to Christianity.

Edited to add: Further to above, churches keep reporting an uptick in record breaking attendance, in recent years, that have surpassed all previous records.

So, as I said, 3rd parties do not speak for Christians.

I imagine the poster is referencing the outcome of the 2021 census - fewer than 50% of respondents said they were Christian for the first time. It is still the highest of any one proportion including "no religion" . However, clearly given the ongoing challenges with attendance being experienced by the church most of these Christians aren't choosing to attend.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/bulletins/religionenglandandwales/census2021

No... it doesn't work like that anymore. It's part of the reason it's harder for students to find part time work, and for those with caring responsibilities to work in supermarkets/other stores. Shops now expect full availability and flexibility from staff. Everyone is expected to do their share of weekends.

It is only large supermarkets or similar, that's it. And they can open for any 6 hour period they want between 10 and 6. Any other shop of any kind can open as long as they please. It started with a more religious basis, but has nothing to do with it now.

It just doesnt matter that much, no matter how special you think Scotland is.

Large supermarkets are generally in larger areas, and will have plenty of smaller shops in general as a result. Smaller/more rural areas will often only have smaller shops, and Sunday trading has no impact on them already so nothing changes for most people in that situation. And large supermarkets have been out of fashion for a while, with many smaller shops opening.

Even in the small village where I am there is now four in less than two miles of me, two of them within walking distance, of smaller shops. Less less then ten years ago there was one.