Sunday trading debate returns

Last year the Government announced its intention to legislate and enable Local Authorities to extend Sunday trading in their localities if they wished.

They have tabled amendments to the Enterprise Bill which would enact this and the Bill, which had already been given a Second Reading (330 for and 62 against) is now in Committee for detailed scrutiny.

Currently shops are allowed to open for six hours, usually between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm.

The amendments would empower Local Authorities to extend those hours and give retailers the freedom to flexibly adjust hours to match local opportunities such as a seasonal tourist trade.

Supporters of this measure argue that they are a response to changing social attitudes and behaviour that make Sunday just like any other day as only 6% still regularly attend churches and even some of them shop afterwards.

USDAW,the shop workers union, has been one of the strongest opponents of Sunday trading because its members want one day a week to be with their families.

The amendments recognise this by protecting their right to opt out of Sunday work for religious or family reasons.

Employers will have a duty to notify their employees of this right and the latter will have to give only one month’s notice of their intention not to work on Sundays, previously they had to give three months’ notice.

One argument against extended Sunday opening is that it will draw trade away from small High Street shops with less than 3000 square feet of floor space, that are currently exempt from the restrictions, to the big out of town supermarkets that are limited by the six hour provision.

The amendments would allow Councils to zone any relaxation they adopt to prioritise the High Street shops but not the out of town supermarkets.

The Government claims that it has the support of local councils that see this as another expression of devolution and 76% of leading retailers and business leaders.

The Business Minister Anna Soubry claims the changes will help shops to compete more effectively with online retailers who legally trade 24/7 and last year took 13.8% of all retail spending.

Sunday trading has long been a difficult issue for policy makers and opponents united in 1986 to defeat the Thatcher Government’s Shops Bill at Second Reading.

The present compromise was established by the 1994 Sunday Trading Act.

Proposals for further relaxation were considered in 2006 but rejected by the Business Secretary, Alistair Darling.

Aware of this history his successor has taken past objections very seriously and sought to avoid them, a consultation found that 76% of the 7000 respondents backed the proposed changes.

Nevertheless, opposition from the faith communities and the shop workers’ union remains strong and there is no certainty that the Government will have a majority for the amendments when the Bill is reported back to the Whole House.

Rumours suggest that at least 20 Conservative MPs will join the Labour Party and the SNP to vote against the Sunday trading amendments.

Even if the changes are approved all is not necessarily lost for their opponents.

They can try to persuade their fellow citizens and Councillors of the case for keeping Sunday as a much needed day for rest and family time.

It is time to get the refugee issue in perspective.

In 2015 a million refugees risked their lives to cross the Mediterranean to enter Europe and a further 34,000 came overland.

Globally there are 13 million refugees and 86% of them are in developing nations, not the EU.

Britain has fewer than 200,000 asylum seekers and the Government is committed to taking another 20,000 from the camps in Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon by 2020. 

These desperate people are fleeing religious persecution, tyrannical government, civil wars and the possibilities of imprisonment, torture and even execution.

Some are economic migrants seeking a better future for their children, than is likely in their homeland and they come hoping for religious freedom, physical safety, a peaceful way of life and a better standard of living.

Despite the fact that most of us want and expect the same, UK public opinion is less than welcoming to refugees.

Britain is the most densely populated European country and immigration is a vexed political issue, we have a housing crisis and more incomers will only make it worse.

NHS waiting times are already too long and school class sizes are generally too big.

Most asylum seekers don’t have a right to work here so the taxpayer must provide minimal financial help for them and currently this means £36.95 per person per week or £5.28 a day, they will be housed but have no choice as to where they live. 

Often this means a ‘hard to let’ property that Council tenants refuse to live in, most likely in the poorest neighbourhoods with higher incidences of unemployment, dysfunctional families and criminality.

Refugees can present a real challenge to local communities where they are placed.

They may not be fluent in English, have cultural differences in what they eat and won’t eat, and how they dress.

Orphans will also need to be placed with people whose suitability has been tested and approved.

Equally, UK secular culture may challenge their religious beliefs and customs, they will also have to cope with the racism of the English Defence League and the BNP and the xenophobic tone of some British newspapers.

So, what can we do to make these needy people welcome?

The words of Jesus, ‘I was a stranger and you invited me in’ (Matthew 25:35) challenge the Christian churches to reach out to refugees settled in their communities and help them to cope with the problems they face. 

Help with learning English, coping with government bureaucracy, finding the best shops to make their limited resources go further, registering with a doctor and a school for their children, are obvious examples but simple friendship is the most important response.

If ‘love your neighbour as yourself’, is at the heart of the Christian faith, second only to loving God, failure to welcome the strangers in our midst would be a disaster for the church’s credibility and mission.

Beyond this, it is necessary to challenge the selfish attitude that we should keep our prosperous way of life for ourselves and shut out the desperate refugees who were also made in God’s image.

This is not about politics or attacking the Government’s plans for refugees but it is about being salt and light in society.