January 27, 2006
Survey finds cross party rejection of more Sunday trading
Proposals to extend Sunday trading hours have been found to be unpopular amongst MPs.
A survey for the retail union Usdaw found that 78 per cent of politicians asked did not support liberalising Sunday trading. The rejection crossed the political divide, with Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and MPs calling for the restrictions to stay in place.
The results are in line with surveys by the union, which found that 64 per cent of shoppers did not want big stores to be open longer on Sundays whilst 92 per cent of Usdaw members did not want to work longer.
John Hannett, general secretary of Usdaw, said: "This is a massive thumbs down to the idea that there is widespread support at Westminster for any relaxation of the present six hours large stores can open on a Sunday.
"The Department of Trade and Industry are conducting a review to see how much support there is for relaxing the present arrangements but this poll clearly shows that there is massive disquiet from backbench MPs."
It also found that 66 per cent of the MPs questioned did not believe that Sunday trading laws provided enough protection for employees who do not want to work on the day.