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RSSWhy Sunday trading laws must return after the Olympics
We must not surrender every vision we have of a good society to the market.
By Nick Spencer Published 31 July 2012 11:22
What was your first time like? Did you enjoy it? No doubt you were nervous but then so was everyone else there, so that presumably made it a bit more exciting. Yes, it was an exquisite moment, for which we all waited so many years: the annoying tannoy wasn’t heard, the doors weren’t locked, and everyone was free to stroll the aisles of Tesco long into the balmy Sunday evening.
When George Osborne announced the "temporary" suspension of Sunday trading laws during the Olympics, there were many, myself included, who thought that temporary was the odd word out in that sentence. Obviously, we shouldn’t prejudge the situation and obviously we have to wait till the figures come out but only the most witless of chancellors would fail to seize every opportunity to drag the nation from the precipice of a triple-dip recession.
No surprise, then, to see City AM editor Allister Heath argue that now is the moment to throw open the doors once and for all or, more substantially, Alex Deane on ConservativeHome making the same case for reasons of economic growth, fairness, personal choice, and employment.
There is much to question in both these arguments. Circumventing Heath’s argument from exaggeration and trivialisation ("contrary to what many killjoys have been predicting over the years, at the time of writing this article, society appeared to have survived") there is Deane’s contention that we need to liberalise the laws because "the British high street is struggling". This does not persuade: deregulating opening hours for out-of-town mega-stores is unlikely to help the high street. Similarly, his claim that "the current rules are unfair… [as] some retailers can remain open while others are forced to close" invites us to imagine that a playing field populated by handful of Gullivers and a myriad of Lilliputians is already, somehow, fair.
Comparably fantastic is Deane’s explanation that Sunday trading rules actually inhibit "family and community activity": "if consumers no longer had to build their weekend schedule around restrictive shopping hours, they would have greater flexibility to engage in a wide range of activities." Build their weekend schedule? Around the fact that they can’t visit Asda at 7pm on a Sunday evening?
The more serious argument is apparently the economic one, of which Heath says, "I have never actually seen a cost-benefit analysis that showed that there would be a negative impact from liberalising retail." Apparently, that is, because it is hard to imagine that either writer would revise their position if the figures showed that liberalisation had but a marginal economic impact. On the contrary, both are clear that there is, for want of a better word, a moral argument at play. "The government should not limit the options of how individuals and families spend their Sundays", writes Deane. "Why not permanently allow consenting adults to shop freely on Sundays?" asks Heath.
Beneath the relatively trivial question of whether a small number of large shops should be able to open for a few extra hours one evening a week, lurks one of the biggest ethical fault lines of our age. For those on one side of this divide, the phrase "consenting adults" acts like a universal acid on any ethical discourse: are they adult? Are they informed? Do they consent? Well, what’s your problem them?
For others, their problem is that "I want" is not a sufficient argument, even when hitched to the tattered, over-used and hopelessly vague harm principle. Most of us are unwilling to embrace the moral relativism that this kind of approach demands. Notions of the good invariably come into play, as even the hardiest of economic libertarians will recognise – witness Professor Michael Sandel asking John Redwood whether he was up for a free market in kidneys.
OK, so perhaps that isn’t the most objective description of this ethical fault line, but that is partly my point. In all serious questions of the just and the good, there is no neutral place to stand. Sunday trading laws come and, I fear, go. But the question beneath them will remain: are we really prepared to surrender every vision we have of a good society to the freedom and alleged fairness of the market?
Tags: Olympics
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Nick Spencer is director of studies at the think-tank Theos. His book Freedom and Order: History, Politics and the English Bible is published by Hodder & Stoughton
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26 comments
The point of the legislation was to limit the opening hours of the bigger shops which in turn would assist the smaller family corner shop. It was also to protect the shop worker who now can be contracted to work 6 days a week 24 hours a day. The only day they had the right to was Sunday. The consequences of opening on sunday was reduced premiums for staff who are now compelled to work on a Sunday. As you all seem to be missing the point were is the new money coming from to spend in these extended hours. Do you have a sunday box under the bed full of money that you have never been able to spend. So the same amount of money is spent over even longer opening hours. The shop workers already have to cope with skeleton staff. abuse violence, some of those staff in the convenience sectgor do not even have the right to christmas day. So while you are complaining of being bored abd to relieve that you need to shop on a sunday consider the shop worker and the rising prices on what you buy because the overheads have to be clawed back from somewhere . And when you have to go to a retail park to buy a carton of milk, because your conrner shop couldnt compete. Just think be careful what you ask for.
The point of giving people chance to earn more is rubbish.. Companies will just contract on a Sunday without premium payments or overtime, giving shopworkers less choice, as is already happening. By opening later and/or 24 hours it has made it more difficult to manage the staff, because shoppers are now spread out more thinly. So if you go into a large supermarket and complain about service and lack of staff then ask yourself why that is. Think about it.. if you and your family are working shift work and eating at different times then your gas and electricity will be used more than if you all ate and slept at the same time. It's the same with shops.. and bills have to be kept to a minimum, therefore, some spending needs to be cut.. ergo, wages and health and safety will be first to be in the firing line and prices will rise.. and maybe also have a look at how much we waste by supermarket shopping.. freezers jam packed, so have to be cleared out to fit in the bogof bargains... food in the fridge thrown away because you've bought too much. It really really won't hurt this country one little bit to keep Sunday special and the hours as they are.. will it!
Yup the need to shop outweighs the right of shopworkers to family time.
Yup the need to shop outweighs the right of shopworkers to family time.
A simple click on the author's name reveals that he has links with a conservative, fundamentalist religious "think"-tank. To borrow from his own article: "No surprise, then, to see Nick Spencer advocating the preservation of the Sabbath". Intellectually dishonest of him, though to hide all trace of his religious persuasion. Come on Nick, admit it - you want Sunday kept special for no other reason than that it was the day on which your (allegedly) all-powerful deity (allegedly) felt the need for rest.
sorry what was your point vs the argument proposed????
The current Sunday trading laws were brought in by the Conservatives who made genuine attempts to get a consensus.
Why would Cameron undermine the good work of John Major?
In Scotland there have never been Sunday trading restrictions and they seem to be getting on fine.
Scotland may not of had Sunday trading Act but they wish they did.
Sunday, as it used to be, was nothing special - it was simply BORING !
Sunday as it used to be, was a time to spend with Friends & Family. To go do sports or just relax. What Boring about that
Sunday as it used to be, was a time to send with Friends & Family. To go do sports or just relax. What Boring about that
"...are we really prepared to surrender every vision we have of a good society to the freedom and alleged fairness of the market?"
If your 'vision of a good society' involves dictating when I can & can't visit the supermarket then you're damn right you'll surrender it. What a ridiculous piece.
It's not time constraints that are stopping people from being out spending, but financial constraints. When will they learn there is just no demand in the economy at the moment?!
I have never understood how opening stores for longer will necessarily mean that people will spend more, although I have to admit I do a lot of my shopping late at night - on the internet! There are only so many goods that we can buy/use, and whilst people are conserving pennies, are probably buying less as we think more about WHAT we buy. By keeping shops open longer - all the time - we are making goods more expensive as we then have to pay for extra electricity, staff, etc. I'm not sure the benefits particularly outweigh the cons... More jobs could then be created in the leisure industry as people would seek to do something other than shopping for at least one day a week!
I have never understood how opening stores for longer will necessarily mean that people will spend more, although I have to admit I do a lot of my shopping late at night - on the internet! There are only so many goods that we can buy/use, and whilst people are conserving pennies, are probably buying less as we think more about WHAT we buy. By keeping shops open longer - all the time - we are making goods more expensive as we then have to pay for extra electricity, staff, etc. I'm not sure the benefits particularly outweigh the cons... More jobs could then be created in the leisure industry as people would seek to do something other than shopping for at least one day a week!
I have never understood how opening stores for longer will necessarily mean that people will spend more, although I have to admit I do a lot of my shopping late at night - on the internet! There are only so many goods that we can buy/use, and whilst people are conserving pennies, are probably buying less as we think more about WHAT we buy. By keeping shops open longer - all the time - we are making goods more expensive as we then have to pay for extra electricity, staff, etc. I'm not sure the benefits particularly outweigh the cons... More jobs could then be created in the leisure industry as people would seek to do something other than shopping for at least one day a week!
I have never understood how opening stores for longer will necessarily mean that people will spend more, although I have to admit I do a lot of my shopping late at night - on the internet! There are only so many goods that we can buy/use, and whilst people are conserving pennies, are probably buying less as we think more about WHAT we buy. By keeping shops open longer - all the time - we are making goods more expensive as we then have to pay for extra electricity, staff, etc. I'm not sure the benefits particularly outweigh the cons... More jobs could then be created in the leisure industry as people would seek to do something other than shopping for at least one day a week!
I have never understood how opening stores for longer will necessarily mean that people will spend more, although I have to admit I do a lot of my shopping late at night - on the internet! There are only so many goods that we can buy/use, and whilst people are conserving pennies, are probably buying less as we think more about WHAT we buy. By keeping shops open longer - all the time - we are making goods more expensive as we then have to pay for extra electricity, staff, etc. I'm not sure the benefits particularly outweigh the cons... More jobs could then be created in the leisure industry as people would seek to do something other than shopping for at least one day a week!
I have never understood how opening stores for longer will necessarily mean that people will spend more, although I have to admit I do a lot of my shopping late at night - on the internet! There are only so many goods that we can buy/use, and whilst people are conserving pennies, are probably buying less as we think more about WHAT we buy. By keeping shops open longer - all the time - we are making goods more expensive as we then have to pay for extra electricity, staff, etc. I'm not sure the benefits particularly outweigh the cons... More jobs could then be created in the leisure industry as people would seek to do something other than shopping for at least one day a week!
I have never understood how opening stores for longer will necessarily mean that people will spend more, although I have to admit I do a lot of my shopping late at night - on the internet! There are only so many goods that we can buy/use, and whilst people are conserving pennies, are probably buying less as we think more about WHAT we buy. By keeping shops open longer - all the time - we are making goods more expensive as we then have to pay for extra electricity, staff, etc. I'm not sure the benefits particularly outweigh the cons... More jobs could then be created in the leisure industry as people would seek to do something other than shopping for at least one day a week!
I have never understood how opening stores for longer will necessarily mean that people will spend more, although I have to admit I do a lot of my shopping late at night - on the internet! There are only so many goods that we can buy/use, and whilst people are conserving pennies, are probably buying less as we think more about WHAT we buy. By keeping shops open longer - all the time - we are making goods more expensive as we then have to pay for extra electricity, staff, etc. I'm not sure the benefits particularly outweigh the cons... More jobs could then be created in the leisure industry as people would seek to do something other than shopping for at least one day a week!
I have never understood how opening stores for longer will necessarily mean that people will spend more, although I have to admit I do a lot of my shopping late at night - on the internet! There are only so many goods that we can buy/use, and whilst people are conserving pennies, are probably buying less as we think more about WHAT we buy. By keeping shops open longer - all the time - we are making goods more expensive as we then have to pay for extra electricity, staff, etc. I'm not sure the benefits particularly outweigh the cons... More jobs could then be created in the leisure industry as people would seek to do something other than shopping for at least one day a week!
I have never understood how opening stores for longer will necessarily mean that people will spend more, although I have to admit I do a lot of my shopping late at night - on the internet! There are only so many goods that we can buy/use, and whilst people are conserving pennies, are probably buying less as we think more about WHAT we buy. By keeping shops open longer - all the time - we are making goods more expensive as we then have to pay for extra electricity, staff, etc. I'm not sure the benefits particularly outweigh the cons... More jobs could then be created in the leisure industry as people would seek to do something other than shopping for at least one day a week!
In all honesty, though you make some good points, this is a fairly weak argument against abolition of Sunday trading laws.
The number one issue here is employment. Would opening all stores for an extra 4-6 hours on a Sunday make a noticable difference nationally? Probably not. Would they make a difference to someone on minimum wage for whom a few extra hours at work could help give them a bit more room to breathe with their finances? Almost certainly yes, and that is why I would back this move
Why deprive Atheists of the one shopping day of the week when they can be pretty sure they will not get pestered by Creationists while they are just trying to get their groceries?