Decision day is here - on Wednesday 9th March the Commons will vote at Report Stage on the Government’s Sunday trading proposals. David Burrowes MP has tabled an amendment to delete the clause (tagged on by the Government at the last minute in committee stages) that concerns deregulation of Sunday trading, and we are expecting some 20+ Tory MPs to rebel, in addition to Labour and other MPs to support the amendment to Keep Sunday Special.

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This is unlikely to be enough, however, if the SNP does a deal with the Government and decides not to oppose the proposals, going against its decision before Christmas which brought the Government’s plans to a halt. Reports are unconfirmed, so we will only really know on Wednesday afternoon. 

In the meantime, we are continuing to lobby both the SNP and Conservatives to oppose the proposals and support David Burrowes’s amendment. In particular, we want Scottish constituents and faith leaders to draw attention to the SNP for conducting a ‘dirty deal’, and thereby put pressure on them to stick to their original decision on the matter. They are (understandably) much more likely to listen to the opinions of Scottish people and institutions. 

This means that if you are a Scottish organisation, or if you have members in Scotland, you could make a big difference by lobbying your SNP MP. The SNP need to know that this policy is opposed by people across the UK, not just England, and that this issue will be affected by their electability. 

Here is the ‘Mythbuster’ brief that clearly and concisely summarises the situation: http://www.keepsundayspecial.org.uk/evidence/mythbuster