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

[CurdinHenry]

And just have a more normal week

What's your reasoning for this?

I don’t know but I’d love it if cafes stayed open past 4/5 in tbis country. Everything just dies after 5pm despite it not getting dark till 9pm here.

Why? There are enough smaller shops open early for emergency purchases, and it's quite nice that retail staff have a reasonably early finish (when I was in retail we still started at 9am on a Sunday, and did jobs before customers came in at 10)

It's really old-fashioned and inconvenient and most people aren't Christian. (There is no Sunday trading in Scotland and never had been and it's a lot better for anyone who just wants to relax instead of panic shopping)

I agree! Or just close on a Sunday all together. The reduced hours are infuriating and pointless.

Agree with this too

We abolished it years ago in Scotland.

Always get caught when I visit England.

We tried this, but it wasn't worth the costs for the few customers who came in. There is a cafe near me open until 10pm but never anyone in, I assume they make money off deliveries later on

We have a lot of family from abroad and it’s honestly a headache trying to get a coffee or ice-cream after dinner here in the summer. The cities just die unless it’s the weekend then it’s just bar/club culture.

Yes I suppose you’re right. We don’t have cafe culture in this country which is a shame.

Things are fine as they are. If you are panic buying on a Sunday you need to be more organised. Keeping shops open longer would make shopping more expensive and mean less time off for workers.

Just been to the Sainsbury’s nearby as I needed lunch items for tomorrow. I live in Scotland and find Sunday hours in England bizarre.

I think the shops in England are open long enough.
I'm old enough to remember when everything was shut on Sundays and Bank Holidays and some times on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons too. We managed (we didn't have the Internet either).

Ha. Try living in Germany! Almost nothing is open all day on Sundays. They take Ruhetag very seriously here.

You are wrong to say there NEVER was a restriction on shopping in Sunday in Scotland. My college friend grew up on a N Scottish island where nothing except church happened on a Sunday, even the swings in the park were tied up out of use every Sunday. Most of it sounds like Most of Scotland has longer shopping hours on Sunday but not every shop can afford to jeep open longer if very few customers come in.

We are still a country with a Christian basis to how our society works and our laws even if the number of people explicitly saying they are Christian is not quite the majority. .

It may be inconvenient to you but that’s not the be all and end all. Many people appreciate a common day to rest and socialise. Too many important things are thrown away in the name of ‘progress’.

Not really though... It's not inconvenient for me cos I live in Scotland and we don't do that nonsense. (I wouldn't move because of this)

I mean all sorts of hassle is "traditional" but I don't see Englishfolk setting fire to their washing machines

I agree, also it is not just church goers who want Sundays off. When I worked in retail for almost 9 years, most if my colleagues with families wanted to be home with them on a Sunday. No doubt the OP thinks there are loads if people desperate to work on a Sunday but a supermarket cannot be staffed entirely with students working part time. The number of staff who left after a short period of time because Sunday working meant too little time with their children was rife.

There was a vote in 2016 to remove Sunday trading laws in England and Wales. It didn’t pass, partly because the SNP told their MPs to vote against it.

I wouldn’t have affected them directly but apparently they were worried about the impact on wages 🤷‍♀️

I’d love it if shops were open longer on a Sunday - 10 to 4 is really restrictive and means you can’t go out for the day if you need to go to the supermarket (smaller shops around here never have a good range). If they either opened earlier or later then it would be much better.

Can’t go on a Saturday as they are always too rammed.

I always think it's rather telling that we don't see campaigns from retail worker groups for this. Perhaps they think abolishing the restriction would be more inconvenient than keeping it.

I thought I'd booked a click and collect for today, went at 9am to realise I'd booked it for Monday 🤦🏻‍♀️ I needed fuel anyway so filled up then swung past the little Tesco express and picked up some bits for today, crisis averted!

The supermarkets are open 6am-10pm 5 days a week, a little less on Saturdays (are any still open 24hours?) plus click and collect, plus home deliveries, and you can buy groceries on Just Eat, Uber Eats etc, and the big shops are open for 6 hours on a Sunday - how much shopping do we need to do?!

I think they’re probably too busy working all the hours that god sends to mobilise.

I say this as a former retail worker who would be back at work on Boxing Day for the sales. Complete nightmare.

So why are you so bothered about what we do in England? I note you did not respond to my comment about Northern Isles and their more restrictive lives in the past. You seem to want to present the English as being backward without acknowledging that bin the iast some areas of Scotland were even more repressive and restrictive on a Sunday.