Keep Sunday special (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Keep Sunday special

10:50am Thursday 20th September 2012 in Letters

Sir.–Those who argue for relaxing Sunday trading laws miss the point.

Our economy crashed when the debt bubble burst. Bankers happily gambled with other people’s money, having packaged the risk and sold it, our banks purchased risk they didn’t understand, and the Government were happy to sit back, believing they had found the secret of eternal growth as it allowed them to ignore their own ever-growing debt. As a result business, banks, individuals and the Government were exposed to hideous debts.

Growth requires spending by those individuals and institutions who are more interested in paying down debt and balancing their books than exposing themselves to more debt. Recovery will be a slow, regardless of what time the deli counter at Sainsbury ’s closes on Sunday.

Sunday is the only day when things close early, when the roads are quieter, you’re not in a rush, and you can slow down. Sunday is when you see your children growing up, visit those relatives growing old, catch up with those you’ve simply been too busy to see all week, exploring our green open spaces or watching the Star Wars films one after the other in chronological order, if that’s your thing.

Whether it’s for faith, family or friends, Sunday is our day – we deserve it. Let’s not give any more of it up. Keep it special and we’ll all do the economic growth thing on Monday.

–Gavin James , Eastrop, Basingstoke.

Sir.–Last night I had a terrible dream. I was saying to my wife: “Let us go to London this weekend and visit your Mum”. “What is this weekend you are talking about,” she replied, “There is no weekend, every day of the week is the same.”

Most Sundays, in real life, I visit an old people’s home, and it is on that day when their children, free from work, come to keep contact with their mums and dads. I am a great fan of a special Sunday, and notice I have not mentioned religion once.

Let us talk about families. A family is not just a group of people living in the same house but a small community in which ideally there is love and understanding. The parents meet and talk with their children.

But suppose the children were working and were not able to be there? Relationships would be lost. That is where Sunday comes in.

Sunday is one day the whole family can be together and hopefully meet and talk together over a meal. Well, that has been my experience, and it saddens me if it is not the experience of others. Sunday helps the family to bond.

Now I know there are many dedicated doctors, nurses, public workers, etc, who do work on a Sunday. But that is what makes these people very special – they often sacrifice their family life to do a job which is needed by the rest of the community. But Sunday is special, and perhaps religious bodies know a thing or two when they made it that way.

–John Kearney, Western Way, Basingstoke.