Is Boris Johnson heading for his first Commons defeat since the election? Plans are afoot in government to bring in legislation to suspend Sunday trading laws as part of a wider effort to get the economy going again. The Prime Minister and Chancellor first thought up the idea of relaxing Sunday trading as a way to make it easier for key workers to shop amid queues and rushes but research then suggested that such measures could have a significant economic impact as well.
However, early signs suggest that if the government presses ahead, MPs could move to block it. The Telegraph reports that 50 Conservative MPs have signed a letter to the Prime Minister urging him to abandon the plans. While the letter doesn’t carry the name of every MP who is alleged to oppose the plans – on the grounds that it could lead to the Whips moving to convince them otherwise – with Labour opposing the measures, this would be enough to defeat the government’s majority of 80. Now the Prime Minister’s spokesperson has said the issue is ‘under review’ and there’s expectation it could be left out of the new Covid Bill.
Johnson is not the first Tory leader to come up against opposition on the issue. Margaret Thatcher’s plan to relax Sunday trading proved so toxic to her own party that even with a majority of 140, it fell at second reading. Meanwhile, in 2016, David Cameron suffered a defeat on the issue (with SNP MPs choosing to vote against) – after pulling the vote the previous year. The issue is a no-go among traditional Conservatives with the Tory Christian right viewing Sunday as special and seeing plans to make it like any other day as an infringement on religion and family rights.
Part of the reason those in the Treasury hoped the measure could pass is that as well as it being proposed as temporary and there being special circumstances in the economic reality of coronavirus, the Conservative party changed in the 2019 election. Many of the new intake in the so-called red wall seats come with a new perspective – the initial findings of Treasury MPs reaching out to these MPs left ministers cautiously optimistic.
But making things more difficult is that morale in the parliamentary party is low at the moment. There is increasing frustration among MPs at the Downing Street operation. Senior Tories believe they are not being treated with sufficient respect. This means that what at one point seemed a large majority that would allow Johnson to govern as he likes is now much thinner. The issue for the government on how to proceed is that were Boris Johnson to lose a vote within a year of winning an 80-seat majority, it could encourage more rebellions. But it’s also the case that if they pull the policy, it suggests Johnson lacks the authority to get his preferred agenda over the line. Given the difficult decisions over the economy in the months ahead, that does not bode well.
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