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Easing of Sunday trading laws could be blocked

A GOVERNMENT bid to relax Sunday trading laws could be torpedoed by an alliance of Labour, nationalists and Tory rebels.

Chancellor George Osborne plans to loosen restrictions on big shops’ opening hours, allowing local councillors and mayors to set rules in their areas.

Currently the largest stores are only allowed to open for six hours on Sunday.

But yesterday SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson confirmed that his party would join the rebellion on the issue.

The changes will only affect England — but shopworkers’ union Usdaw says retail giants will fund extra opening hours by slashing benefits for working Sundays across Britain.

“Extended Sunday opening will increase retailers’ overheads but not the amount they take through the tills, because people don’t have more money to spend just because shops are open for longer,” the union’s general secretary John Hannett said.

 

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