On BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, the Chancellor said: “We’ve got the whole world coming to London and the rest of the country for the Olympics. To imply that the legislation, which allows shops to open for 150 hours a week, means Britain is ‘closed for business’ is ridiculous.”īut ministers hope to see the proposal approved by Easter. He further added: “Any change would fly totally in the face of the Government’s commitment to be family-friendly. Speaking from the General secretary of shopworkers’ union Usdaw, John Hannett, said: “Our members are vehemently opposed to any further deregulation of Sunday trading hours and the Government’s own consultation on this just last year showed that there is no widespread support from either retailers or the general public for change.” However campaign group Keep Sunday Special called the plan “profoundly worrying”. Mr Osborne told the BBC it would be a “great shame” if Britain had a “closed for business” sign on it during the Games. The move, which brought objections from church leaders, trades unions and the Labour party, is planned to coincide with London’s hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Sunday trading laws are to be relaxed by the Government this summer in a move that could pave the way for longer weekend opening hours all year round.Ĭhancellor George Osborne confirmed that he is to push through emergency legislation lifting the six-hour limit on opening hours for larger commercial property stores over eight weekends in July, August and September.

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