Andy Burnham told to abolish Sunday trading laws in England this October – ‘relic’.TA
EXCLUSIVE: Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been told to abolish Sunday Trading Laws this October.
Andy Burnham has been told to abolish the Sunday trading laws (Image: Getty)
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been told he must ‘abolish’ Sunday Trading Laws this October as part of his first-ever Budget with new Chancellor John Healey.
Ahead of the Budget on October 28, business groups and key organisations across the country were invited to make submissions to the government about key changes the Prime Minister should look to implement in order to boost the economy and stimulate growth.
Among the hundreds of submissions, the London Chamber of Commerce has urged Mr Burnham to scrap the law which currently only allows large retailers in England to open for six hours on Sundays.
Under the current law, any retailer larger than a certain square footage size (currently 280 square metres) cannot open for more than six hours if they are in England or Wales. It means that most retailers, such as large supermarkets, homeware and department stores, only open from 10am to 4pm.
Get the latest politics news – straight from our team in Westminster and more
Invalid email
You agree you are 18 or over. We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. You can unsubscribe at any time. More Info.
Scotland, however, has its own laws and Sunday Trading Laws do not apply north of the border.
Now, the London Chamber of Commerce is pressing for a change in the laws for England, citing the ‘specific impact’ the ‘relic of law’ has on the capital. It stresses that Sunday is ‘one of the most commercially valuable days of the week’ and that London needs to compete with international capitals such as Paris, Milan and Dubai, which have no such restrictions on trading hours.
The London Chamber of Commerce says: “Abolish Sunday Trading Laws: The current rules restricting large stores to six hours of trading on a Sunday, which Margaret Thatcher first attempted to abolish in 1986, are a relic of a different era of retail and a different pattern of life.
“They have a specific impact on London as the capital, where seven-day footfall, tourism and shift-working households make Sunday one of the most commercially valuable days of the week. London’s major shopping districts compete with Paris, Milan and Dubai for international visitor spend, and asking them to close at 5pm on a Sunday is a self-imposed restriction.
“No shopping hub in Dubai closes at 5pm on a Sunday. Businesses know their own footfall and levels of demand best. Allowing retailers and shopping hubs to decide when they should trade is a growth lever that can be pulled at zero cost to the Exchequer “
As part of the document, it also urged Mr Burnham to reintroduce VAT-free shopping, which was axed in 2020.
It added: “Ending tax-free shopping in 2020 handed a direct competitive advantage to Paris, Milan and Madrid, where an international visitor can reclaim VAT on a purchase that costs them a fifth more in London. The result is not that visitors stop spending, but that they spend elsewhere, taking with them the hotel nights, restaurant covers and wider tourism economy that high-value shopping trips anchor.
“The lost VAT was never the whole cost; the displaced spending across the visitor economy is the larger, unseen one. Restoring the scheme would help bring that spending back to London’s streets.”
The Chamber also urged Mr Burnham to renegotiate a new deal with the EU, back the third runway at Heathrow and designate the areas along the Elizabeth and Jubilee lines of London an ‘AI investment zone’.
Mr Burnham and Mr Healey will make their first Budget speech to Parliament on Wednesday, October 14.
Among the items already confirmed to be on the agenda are the Cash ISA cut, the tax exemption for state pensioners and the details of the triple lock changes.
Nigel Farage announces bombshell deportation plan for Afghan and Palestinian migrants
Nigel Farage will announce hardline migration plans next week.
Nigel Farage announces bombshell deportation plan for Afghan and Palestinian migrants (Image: Getty)
Reform UK said it will deport anyone who arrived under Shabana Mahmood’s refugee resettlement scheme if the party is elected. Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said he will “immediately end” the scheme when he announces the policy next Monday, along with several other immigration plans. The Home Secretary reopened the UK Resettlement Scheme for new referrals on September 28, to provide “genuine refugees a safe and legal route to the UK”. Around a quarter of referrals will be for Afghan women and girls and Palestinian refugees, fleeing war and persecution, Labour said.
However, speaking to The Telegraph ahead of his speech, Mr Farage said: “Britain is not obligated to take in more migrants, and under a Reform government, these people will not be able to stay.” His severe plans will also revoke residents’ right to remain if they are not considered to be in danger in their home country.
Nations from across the world would be affected. Migration Observatory estimates suggest between 622,000 and 820,000 non-EU citizens had settlement status at the end of 2024, which did not include the approximately 4million EU citizens who were living in the UK before January 2021, and hold settled or pre-settled status.
Mr Farage will also announce a review of Britain’s Afghan resettlement schemes and pledge to publish their costs next week. This was designed to resettle Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Government in exposed roles, as well as vulnerable individuals.
Reform has also escalated plans first announced in February for Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia. Mr Farage said Reform would impose tariffs on the countries if they refused to take back illegal immigrants and foreign criminals residing in the UK, speaking to The Times.
The party originally planned to impose strict visa bans for people legally seeking to visit the UK from these countries. Reform said it believes that tariffs may be more effective. The proposed list includes several of the countries with the largest numbers of asylum seekers in the UK in recent years.
Reform has plummeted in popularity after controversy surrounding its funding (Image: Getty)
The party will also conduct an audit of migration figures and publish a detailed breakdown of the number of people who have arrived in Britain since 2010, by nationality and route of entry.
Channel crossings have fallen this year. They reached a peak of around 46,000 in 2022. In the year ending June 2026, the number of detected arrivals fell to around 33,000.
Support for Reform has plummeted amid controversy over the party’s funding and a recovery in Labour’s popularity thanks to Andy Burnham’s arrival at Number 10. The party has fallen to second place in most polls, its lowest rating since December 2024.
