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

[CurdinHenry]

And just have a more normal week

Exactly. And the inverse is that some people want to pick up more work hours at the weekend while their partner is at home and they have child care.

I don't see why we can't have both.

Are other posters also up late in the UK, or are these friends from across the pond?

Not necessarily disorganised. I used to do 'on call' for a week at a time in a cardiology department.

My longest day started with me being called in at 5.00, then working a normal day followed by late cases meaning I left at 23.00.

I did used to put a couple of ready meals in the fridge in case I didn't have time to cook.

What a load of nonsense. All it has meant is the big retailers have all opened mini branches everywhere. Where I live there is a massive Sainsbury's and a mini one about 100 yards away that opens early on a Sunday.

I think shops should be shut on a Sunday. Let people be with their families

nothing is usually so urgent it can’t wait a day or if you knew would be shut be more organised and buy bread milk cheese etc day before

same with 25/26 Dec and bank holidays

possibly with odd chemist open am/pm so on a rota

I actually miss having one day a week when shops aren’t open. It used to mean there was a day when you just chilled.

It's not just shops, though, is it.

When you work all week during core hours and need access to a service, having to cramp it into an often heavily busy and shutting early that day Saturday only makes it very difficult to fit appointments around work.

Half a day a week to get to the optician's, the library, an estate agent's etc. just isn't enough time.

The flip side of this, of course, is the lack of childcare on a weekend. If we want more workers to be available all weekend, there has to be flexibility with nurseries, childminders and schools that just won't work with the current system.

I don't have an answer, but I sympathise with the OP. I cannot take calls at work, so all my life admin happens on a Saturday morning or during AL.

Leave it as it is.

We are still in work Sundays before and after the store is open so the argument of limiting hours that people can work is rubbish.

As it stands now everyone loves it when we close early because we can get more done, I can guarantee that people would opt out of Sundays if we traded for longer.

no, yabu
let the staff go home

We new coffee shop in my town - it’s open until 10/11pm and I often walk past at 8/9 and it’s busy.

Monday to Friday in retail 😂

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.

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.

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 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.

Great, all is good then? 😆

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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