Labour backs call for retail workers to get Boxing Day off

The party says the Government should respect retail workers who wanted the day off

Millions of people descend on shops on Boxing Day in search of bargains (Getty)

Labour has backed a call to postpone the January sales by a day to give retail workers an extra day off on Boxing Day.

A petition align for a ban on shops opening on the day after Christmas reached well over 100,000 signatures and will be debated by MPs as per parliamentary rules.

The petition states that Christmas is “a family time” and that it was unfair that retail workers only got one day off at Christmas after working hard into the run-up to the festive period.

The Government said in a response to the petition that it does “not believe it is for central government to tell businesses how to run their shops or how best to serve their customers”.

Labour’s shadow business minister Bill Esterton however said major retailers should give staff the day off unless they specifically volunteered to work.

“Labour supports our 2.7 million retail workers, their families and those retailers who want to act responsibly without the increasing pressure to bring their staff in for ever-longer hours over the Christmas period,” he said.

“Those stores that do not open on Boxing Day - John Lewis, Aldi and Lidl to name a few - saw sales increases last Christmas whilst giving their staff an extra day off. The Conservative government should respect the 92 per cent of retail workers who want an extra day to enjoy Christmas with their families.

“Having put in extraordinarily long hours in the run-up to Christmas, they will get just one day to spend with their loved ones. Surely, for their sake, we can all wait one more day for the sales?”

Large shops are prohibited from opening on Christmas Day but not on Boxing Day.

The Office for National Statistics estimates that 365,000 people in the retail sector alone worked on Boxing Day.

Around 22 million people descended on shops on the same day last year, according to industry estimates