The government's attempt to liberalise Sunday trading laws could be defeated before even reaching the House of Commons, Christian Today understands.
Despite accusations of a "lack of transparency" and a "gross abuse of power", the business secretary Sajid Javid re-introduced the proposals as a last-minute amendment to the Enterprise Bill after strong opposition forced the government to withdraw its first attempt in November.
However a senior source close to the campaign against the proposals has told Christian Today the government is facing defeat again.
A number of Conservative MPs on the committee of 18 currently scrutinising the bill could well rebel against the government's amendment, the source said.
Amanda Solloway, the new Conservative MP for Derby North, was the "most likely by far" to vote against her party, according to the source.
The government's proposals would permit local authorities to relax Sunday trading regulations, allowing large stores to treat Sunday like any other day of the week. Under current legislation, stores over 280 square metres are only allowed to open for six hours on Sunday. The restriction does not apply to smaller high street stores.
This committee stage is the first time the government's late amendment has received scrutiny as it was slipped into the bill after initial debates in the House of Lords and Commons. Consisting of 10 Conservative MPs and 8 opposition MPs, it only requires one Conservative to rebel for the amendment to fall. The commitee is expected to consider the amendment on Sunday trading on Thursday.
The source told Christian Today he was optimistic the government would be defeated. He said new MPs elected in 2015 "could well" vote against the government.
The other potential rebels on the committee are Lucy Frazer and Mark Pawsey, with the remaining Tory MPs having declared their support for the changes. Jo Churchill MP was unavailable for comment. All eight SNP and Labour MPs are expected to vote against the measure. If the committee passes the amendment, MPs across the House of Commons will have one last opportunity to debate the proposals before they are enshrined in law.
The changes were initially raised in November but an alliance between 20 Tory rebels, led by Christian MP David Burrowes, and SNP and Labour MPs forced the government to back down.
Burrowes has previously told Christian Today he is confident that if a vote in the Commons is decided, he has enough support to defeat the government.
"A number of other Conservative MPs have voiced their support", he said, in addition to the original 20 who threatened to rebel.
The Church of England has also condemned the plans, saying "changing the law would have a negative effect on community and family life, whilst delivering few, if any, additional benefits for the economy".
"We know that over half of shop workers in large stores already feel pressure to work on Sundays and an increase in opening hours will only lead to more people being pressured into spending Sunday apart from their children and families," said the Bishop of St Albans, Rt Rev Dr Alan Smith.
"This can only be damaging to community and family life and erode opportunities for shared time and activity, which is central to human flourishing and the common good."
The Keep Sunday Special campaign has led opposition to the changes and has urged shop workers to attend a mass lobby of Parliament on Monday in protest.
