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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think shops should be open longer Sundays

432 replies

Habba · 03/12/2018 07:07

We aren't a religious country, churches are empty and it would be great to do the weekly shop at 6-7pm on a Sunday when the children are in bed.

Dragging them around busy shops during the day would give me more family time.

Scotland manages just fine, people up there find it bizzare the government forces shops here to close.

OP posts:
Greycat11 · 03/12/2018 08:46

YANBU, especially annoying at this time of year trying to fit in Christmas shopping in already busy weekends.

prh47bridge · 03/12/2018 08:48

Scotland manages just fine, people up there find it bizzare the government forces shops here to close

Just to be clear, the government attempted to change the law in 2016. The change would have given councils the right to set up zones that would be free from Sunday trading hours restrictions. The move was defeated because the SNP, who had said they would abstain on the grounds that the move did not affect Scotland, actually voted against, arguing that it could affect the wages of Scottish retail workers who currently get a premium for working on Sundays (although many suspect that the real reason was to embarrass the government). Other opposition parties also voted against as did a number of Tory rebels (who apparently wanted the move to be restricted to seaside towns and city centres rather than letting local councils decide).

If the SNP had abstained the change would have become law. So it is not unreasonable to say to any Scot who finds it bizarre that it was the SNP who stopped the government changing the law.

Kemer2018 · 03/12/2018 08:49

I wish they'd shut on a Sunday. Folk would be forced to rediscover boredom and then find something better to do as a family on a Sunday.
Also, with online deliveries folk can get it delivered any other day any time if they're busy working full time.

Kazzyhoward · 03/12/2018 08:50

I wish all businesses closed on Sundays.

What, including all pubs, restaurants, cinemas, bowling alleys, fairgrounds, and other attractions??

So, you'd be happy with just churches and hospitals opening on a Sunday?

Antigonads · 03/12/2018 08:52

I have never and will never understand this need to shop all the bloody time.

I remember threads where people were bemoaning what they would do on a Sunday if the shops were closed. I'd love to go back to full Sunday closing.

JacquesHammer · 03/12/2018 08:53

Surely it’s possible to manage.

When I managed a bar I had people who only wanted week shifts and people who only wanted weekend shifts. So you rota them accordingly.

I’m sure it could work in a similar fashion.

sossages · 03/12/2018 08:53

It seems to work fine in Scotland. DH works in retail and having to do some weekend hours is just part of the job. Plus some people want their hours evenings & weekends to fit childcare around partners who work Mon-fri.

The reason the government are able to keep saying unemployment is falling and yet poverty, food bank usage etc is not is due to underemployment - I.e. people who can only get part time hours and would do more if it was offered to them. Longer opening hours would help with that.

Since we're talking fantasy policy here (longer Sunday opening would upset the religious lobby so no chance this government would do it) there's no reason we can't also overhaul employment rights too so people have the right to preserve some family time. What's needed is flexibility, not a blanket ban on one sector working past 4pm on one day of the week.

PiperPublickOccurrences · 03/12/2018 08:54

If the SNP had abstained the change would have become law. So it is not unreasonable to say to any Scot who finds it bizarre that it was the SNP who stopped the government changing the law.

To be fair, it is pretty much par for the course that the SNP votes against anything the Westminster government proposes. It's their unique selling point. That and keeping Scotland as different as possible to the rest of the UK to further their independence agenda.

mummmy2017 · 03/12/2018 08:57

As said go do your shop on one if the other six days, that what your proposing is possible.

MumsKnitters · 03/12/2018 08:58

I used to live in England, but now live in Scotland. Being open on Sundays is so much better. The traffic evens out over Saturday/Sunday, the queues even out so shopping on Saturday is much pleasanter.

My son works at ASDA on Sundays which he is much happier to than working on Saturdays. He cares not a jot about churches, but would hate to have to miss the football on Saturdays. Due to Sunday trading he gets to choose which weekend day he wants off. As a pp said, not all religious folk are Christian and want the Sunday off, some want Saturdays off.

blueskiesandforests · 03/12/2018 08:58

In countries where it's unusual to work on a Sunday or bank holiday, employees are still paid a premium for working those days. I have to work Sundays a couple of times a month. It's to my advantage that this is seen as a hardship - only health care and hospitality employees work on Sundays here.

The fact Sunday working is rare means employers have to pay at least 133% of the usual Monday to Saturday wage. Sundays after 8pm are more. Bank holidays are more. It's when Sunday working becomes normal that employers stop paying a premium.

I'm not renotely religious but appreciate that on one arbitrary day per week families usually have the day off together.

Habba why on earth don't you avail yourself of online ordering and delivery.

That's what I miss since leaving the UK. It's still not available where I live. I hate doing the supermarket shop for a family of 5 including 3 big kids... Driving to the supermarket, negotiating my way around my fellow trolley pushing zombies, trolley full to overflowing before I've bought everything on the list each week, loading it onto the conveyer, packing it into the trolley again, packing the bugs from trolley into the car... the entire repetitive process is mind numbingly dull and takes so long. If I could only have my basics saved on an internet supermarket shop and click to have them delivered on repeat I'd get 3 hours per week of my life back...

jcsp · 03/12/2018 08:59

I’d not be happy working late on a Sunday night.

Generally I try not to shop on Sundays.

Keeping one day of the week special - whether you are religious or not - helps your mindfulness, a day for family events, relationships, catching up.

LakieLady · 03/12/2018 09:00

I want to return to all day sunday closing.

Me too. I used to love Sundays, when it was nice and quiet and you could only go out and do sociable things.

ifoundthebread · 03/12/2018 09:01

Just pay the extra to shop somewhere with longer opening hours on a Sunday. My sister works in a co-op store which is open until 11pm every night 🤷🏻‍♂️

MrMakersFartyParty · 03/12/2018 09:02

Why do retail workers deserve a break? Poor retail workers? I'm so confused. I've worked in both retail and healthcare, pay both equally rubbish, why does one deserve more of a break? Maybe people who work shifts need shops to be open more?

dementedma · 03/12/2018 09:03

living in Scotland it hadn't really crossed my mind that shops in England aren't open or close early on Sundays. But my dh works in social work residential) and often works Sundays if that's when his shift falls so I don't see the problem. He gets time off in the week instead. Loads of people work on Sundays and still manage to have family time around that.

TheWiseWomansFear · 03/12/2018 09:03

They're open til 11pm in my area of London

TimeWoundsAllHeals · 03/12/2018 09:04

I think shops should all be closed on Sunday and also Wednesday afternoon. I don’t think it would effect the economy. People don’t buy more just because the shops are open longer, they have the same amount of disposable income either way and will tend toward spending what they can spend.

LakieLady · 03/12/2018 09:04

I wonder how people would manage if we went back to shops closing at 6 every day, except for late night shopping on a Friday, or having a half-day closing on a weekday (Wednesdays in most areas, I think).

There was no internet shopping then but, amazingly, people managed.

MrMakersFartyParty · 03/12/2018 09:06

Sometimes when I've finished a night shift on a Sunday morning I really need a shop to be open, but instead I have to wait an extra 2 hours before I can go to bed.

adoggymum · 03/12/2018 09:08

Deffo YANBU! It's so annoying! (And yes I've worked in retail- working conditions definitely should be improved).

MrMakersFartyParty · 03/12/2018 09:09

Shops should be open for long hours to make it convenient for those working unsociable hours. Why are we looking to make gps 7 days a week then? Why is it always healthcare workers that nobody thinks about? And don't say its a career they chose because I don't think a gp practice nurse expected to work outside of weekdays.

Megan2018 · 03/12/2018 09:09

I wish they would shut everything on Sunday all day - I love visiting family in Germany where it all shuts down at lunchtime on Saturday and is closed on Sunday.
No-one needs 24/7 shopping in person - we have the internet for that.

Luckily in our market town most of the shops are shut on Sunday - it is only Tesco and Wilko that are open - it is lovely to do something that doesn't involve retail. I hate the British idea of shopping as a leisure activity - eugghh.

TimeWoundsAllHeals · 03/12/2018 09:11

pretty sure people against Sunday trading are not the same people pushing for 7day gp service.

Although if it was up to me we’d swap the gp system for polyclinics.

Original poster
Habba · 03/12/2018 09:17

I bet all these people saying close it on Sundays still shop and do things then.

When dd who likes working Sundays was forced by her shop to get signatures to support longer hours she got loads of people shopping on a Sunday who said they wish the shops weren't open Grin ridiculous. Some people have it in their head we can go back to being a sleepy twee place if the hours are changed. The world has moved on, Amazon is just waiting to kill of grocery shopping all together and this refusal to modernize will just hasten the downfall imo.

OP posts: