Sunday, Sunday...so good to me.

I read today (here) that Sunday trading laws are to be suspended for the duration of the Olympics. This has generally been greeted with pleasure and a sense that these laws are an anachronistic hangover from the days when the UK was a largely church-going country. It’s certainly true that we are now likely to do considerably different things with our leisure time than we were 50 years ago and there is no longer the sense of religious imperative that marks the Sabbath out as a day of rest for all. But does that mean we should scrap Sunday trading laws?

For me, Sunday trading has never been about protecting those who want to pursue their religions but about protecting workers – especially those with families. Protecting workers rights to work a set amount of hours per week is important. But so is making sure those hours work for the workers. I may miss shopping on a Sunday, but ask yourself how many workers miss out by working on that day? Do we really need to indulge in consumerism seven days a week? I’ve never been convinced that we do. What's wrong with a day of rest for everybody?