The Keep Sunday Special Campaign has called on the group of high-profile politicians to examine the effect that weekend working is having on community and family life.
The panel, headed by Labour’s Lord Anderson, and including Ann Widdecombe, Gary Streeter, Andy Reed and Colin Breed, will look at the fresh threat to the family weekend posed by the Deregulate alliance of major retailers.
Deregulate members, which include Tesco, Ikea, B&Q and Asda, are fighting for the government to remove all restrictions on large-trade shopping on Sundays, much to the worry of Christians up and down to the country who fear it will now be even harder to worship on a Sunday.
John Alexander, manager of the Keep Sunday Special Campaign, says it is essential to re-engage the interest of the churches right across Britain, reports The Good News.
"Already many practising Christians have been denied the opportunity to worship on a Sunday," he said, "and with even three extra hours of trading on a Sunday many more will find the opportunity to attend their local church will be even more limited."
The panel, which will have to report by Easter to meet a tight deadline, will examine the huge discrepancy between the findings of two separate polls into the number of people who would like to see greater deregulation on Sunday shopping.While the number who would like to have more time for shopping was lower in the poll by the major stores, the NOP commissioned by KSS revealed that 72 per cent of interviewees would rather have Sunday off to share with families and friends than have more time to shop.
Another poll by Usdaw, the shopworkers’ union, had similar findings, with 62 per cent of 500 shop staff agreeing that they came under pressure to work on Sundays.
The survey also found that only 11 per cent had had the confidence to exercise their legal right and insist on keeping their Sundays free.
Hopes have been bolstered by the nearly 180 MPs who have signed an Early Day Motion to oppose any extension on Sunday trading.
The KSS Campaign will be keen for the panel to address other pressing issues of concern, including the largely broken promises to pay shopworkers premium rates on Sunday, as well as the detrimental effects that large-store Sunday trading has had on communities which have lost their local shops.
In small towns and villages across the country, many elderly, handicapped and those without readily accessible means of transport have been severely restricted by the closure of many local stores.
