Sunday Trading Laws

31 August 2015

David Cameron has stated that the current Sunday trading hours do not work and has backed changes to the rules, despite opposition from many of is own MPs.

Sunday trading laws currently do not allow large shops to open longer than six hours. The Prime Minister said: "You've got these restrictions on opening hours for many stores that families would like to shop in, and you have to go to these stores and you have to walk around for hours before you're actually allowed to buy anything.'

"I think it's time to modernise our approach to give families more choice."

A vote on the matter was due to go ahead next week, but this has now been pushed back to allow Ministers more time to win support. The potential change of the Sunday Trading law would be through the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill, allowing local governments to have more powers.

Could this help employment by creating more jobs, or just force those already working in the retail industry to work longer hours?

It has been seen by some as a way to modernise trading in the country and to keep up with the online industry. However others are very much against it. The Church of England has stated that Sundays should be preserved for the sake of “family stability and community life'.

This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues.