However, to delay the pain, I do have a horrible habit of
leaving it to the very last minute. At around 3.45pm on a Sunday afternoon, I
am often to be found racing around the aisles of the supermarkets of Leigh
throwing random items into my trolley as the store announcer asks people to
make their way to the check-out because the store is about to close.
Given this, you might think that I would be in favour of
George Osborne's plan to relax the Sunday trading laws to allow opening beyond
4pm. But you would be wrong. When it comes before Parliament this Wednesday, I
will be voting to oppose any change in the law and to keep Sunday special.
Anticipating that this vote was on the horizon, I have
often taken the opportunity as I am packing my bags late on a Sunday to chat to
people working on the checkouts to find out whether they support a change in
the law. On the one hand, you could argue that it would offer them the chance
to get extra working hours. Then again, customers only have so much money to
spend. Longer store opening would not necessarily increase takings but could in
fact result in spreading the same number of staff hours more thinly over a
longer period.
What I have discovered from talking to shop-workers is
that the vast majority are strongly against the change. Working in retail means
they already have to put up with anti-social working hours. For those with
kids, early closing on a Sunday gives them the breathing space they need on a
Sunday night to get things ready for the school week ahead. If Osborne gets his
way, this little oasis of time will be taken away from them and many will lose
those precious hours with their little-ones ahead of the Monday morning school
run. I also feel sure that, for younger shop staff without kids, a Sunday night
off is a welcome way of recovering from a late Friday or Saturday night out.
But the truth is that there are even bigger arguments
against relaxing the laws. I believe we have already allowed shopping to
dominate far too much of our lives. I don't know about you but I don't want to
live in a 24/7 society where we all have to bow down to the great god of
retail. Surely it is a healthy thing for us all to take a step back on one day
of the week and focus on the family, go to church, down to the pub or out for a
long walk?
George Osborne like to claim that he is not forcing
Sunday opening on anyone but instead will leave it up to local councils to
decide whether or not to do it. But this is a dishonest position. He knows full
well that the muscle of the big retailers far outweighs that of local
authorities. If a council decided to take a stand against relaxing the hours,
they would immediately face threats from retailers to up sticks and re-locate
their stores in council areas that would agree to their demands. This
Chancellor likes to pose as a friend of devolution. But the truth is he is an
even bigger friend of big business and is more than happy to do their bidding.
I think the current system of 4pm closing works fine as
it is. It simply focuses the mind of people like me to switch off the football
and get down to the shop on time. And, to be honest, I am glad that it forces
me to do that. Because it means that, on a Sunday night, I am home with the
kids rather than traipsing aimlessly round the aisles looking for things to put
in their packed lunches.
It is always a sure sign that the Government have got
something seriously wrong when a broad coalition of interests unite against it.
This ill-thought-through proposal has succeeded in uniting many of the church
and faith groups with the excellent shop-workers Union Usdaw and with smaller
independent retailers. And its seems that this powerful alliance has spooked a
number of Tory MPs. The rumour in Parliament this week was that many are
prepared to defy the Prime Minister and Chancellor and vote it down.
We will find out whether enough are prepared to put their
money where there mouth is and vote their own Government down. But it does seem
that the splits that have opened up in the Tory Party as a result of the EU
referendum are creating a situation where Tory MPs are prepared to defy their
Party on a broader range of issues.
For the sake of the many people in Leigh who work in
retail, let's hope so. But I can assure them that I will be there in Parliament
to cast my vote.
I will do that not just because I want to repay Usdaw for
the great support they gave me in the Labour leadership election, nor because
of my strong feeling that we should keep Sunday special. It is for both of
those reasons. But there is an even more important one. It is because the next
time I arrive at a checkout at 3.59pm on a Sunday with a full trolley, much to
the annoyance of the person serving me, I want at least to be able to look them
in the eye and say that I voted the right way!
Many people have been in touch with me over recent days
to express their frustration that the car park of Pennington Flash has once
again been over-taken by the caravans of a group of travellers. And I have to
say that I have every sympathy with them.
The Flash is a wonderful asset at the heart of our
community. It should be there for everyone to enjoy every single day and never
dominated by one group or another to the detriment of others. Reports that
people visiting the Flash in recent days have faced intimidation are simply not
acceptable.
I will always be one of the first to say that we should
respect the traditions and culture of the travelling community. But I will also
not hold back in saying that respect needs to cut both ways. There needs to be
a respect for this outstanding environment as an area of natural beauty and for
the people who work to keep the Flash clean and make it what it is.
The Wigan Borough, like other local authorities, has a
long-standing policy of designating certain areas as suitable for use by travellers.
I am sure that many in the travelling community would argue that these sites
are insufficient for their needs and that more need to be found. They may have
a point. But that does not justify occupying such an important public facility
like this.
I know that many people will ask why the council hasn't
done more to stop this. But, to be fair to them, I know that they took all
reasonable steps as quickly as they could to try and resolve this situation
safely, including initiating legal proceedings. Our local ward councillors had
a big part to play in that swift action and I would like to thank them for it.
Looking ahead, I think we need to find a better solution
to prevent a repeat of last weekend. I know that Councillor John O'Brien has
called for physical restrictions to be erected to prevent entrance to the Flash
by vehicles of the kind that were on site in recent days. I fully support him
in making that call. I suspect that council officers will reply by saying that
the site also needs to be accessible to large maintenance vehicles. But surely
it is not beyond the wit of man to devise a solution where a key could be
provided to open any gates or headroom restrictions?
Another idea that the council is looking at is a
borough-wide ban. This would mean that, if a similar situation arises in the
future, the police and council will not have to wait for a court order to be
granted but can act immediately.
I will be arguing that a permanent solution is needed and
that both physical restrictions and a ban are needed. The Flash is the jewel in
our local crown and it is fully justified that we should take steps to protect
its use as an open space for everyone.