Keep Sunday Special is a British campaign group set up in 1985 by Dr. Michael Schluter CBE to oppose plans to introduce Sunday trading in England and Wales (there are different arrangements in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

). The Keep Sunday Special campaign was set up and is run as a conventional secular civil society organisation with support from trade unions, churches, political parties, private businesses, and members of all faiths and of none. It has no connection to the

Lord's Day Observance Society Day One Christian Ministries, formerly known as the Lord's Day Observance Society (LDOS), is a Christian organisation based in the United Kingdom that lobbies for no work on Sunday, the day that many Christians celebrate as the Sabbath, a day of r ...

History

From 1912 to 1938 a series of

acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

regarding

trading Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...

were passed into UK law, including that which regulated shops on Sundays, which were later consolidated in the

Shops Act 1950 The Shops Act 1950 was an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which was repealed on 1 December 1994 by the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994. The introductory text describes it as "An Act to consolidate the Shops ...

. This act was then repealed by the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994, bringing an end to the prohibition of Sunday trade in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

. Under the

Sunday Trading Act 1994 The Sunday Trading Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom governing the right of shops in England and Wales to trade on a Sunday. Buying and selling on Sunday had previously been illegal, with exceptions, under the Shops Ac ...

, large shops are allowed to open for up to six hours on a Sunday between 10am and 6pm. The UK Department of Trade and Industry conducted a review of the Act in early 2006 to consider whether to extend opening hours to nine hours or to remove restrictions entirely. Keep Sunday Special was founded on the idea that such moves by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

would have a damaging effect on families, communities and local economies. An

Early Day Motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a Motion (parliamentary procedure), motion, expressed as a single sentence, Table (parliamentary procedure), tabled by Member of Parliament, members of Parliament that formally ...

was signed by nearly 300 MPs. On 6 July 2006, the then Trade and Industry Secretary,

Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (born 28 November 1953) is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he was a Member ...

, confirmed that, having considered all the evidence from the review, the Government concluded there should be no change to the Sunday trading laws. The news was welcomed by trade unions and small shops who were afraid large stores would undercut their prices and were opposed to any change in the law.

References

External links

*
UK Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform - Report on Sunday Shopping
* {{cite web, url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24458571, title=The Anglo-French Sunday/Dimanche divide, author=Sam Judah & Olivia Sorrel-Dejerine, date=10 October 2013, accessdate=10 October 2013, publisher=BBC News Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1985 1985 establishments in the United Kingdom Sunday shopping Retailing in the United Kingdom

History

See also

References

External links