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A timeline of David Cameron's broken promise on Sunday shopping

George Osborne announces plans for round-the-clock Sunday shopping, despite a pledge from Cameron's spokesperson during electoin campaign

Tuesday 07 July 2015 15:49 BST

David Cameron and George Osborne have confirmed their intention to go ahead with the £12bn in welfare cuts (Getty Images)

Three weeks before the general election David Cameron's spokesperson sent a letter to campaign group Keep Sunday Special assuring them that the Conservatives had no plans to relax Sunday trading laws.

Exactly two months after the election George Osborne announces government plans for round-the-clock Sunday shopping, which will be included in tomorrow's emergency budget.

April 20: The Prime Minister's Conservative party spokesperson wrote: “I can assure you that we have no current plans to relax the Sunday trading laws. We believe that the current system provides a reasonable balance between those who wish to see more opportunity to shop in large stores on a Sunday, and those who would like to see further restrictions.”

Supermarkets will be allowed to open for longer than the current six hours permitted on Sundays under George Osborne's plans (Getty Images)

July 7: George Osborne said: “Even two decades on from the introduction of the Sunday Trading Act, it is clear there is still a growing appetite for shopping on a Sunday. There is some evidence that transactions for Sunday shopping are actually growing faster than those for Saturday.

"The rise of online shopping… also means more retailers want to be able to compete by opening for longer at the weekend. But this won’t be right for every area, so I want to devolve the power to make this decision to mayors and local authorities.”

What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

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1/8What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

Welfare payments will be slashed

One of the most controversial parts of the Conservative manifesto was to cut benefits for the working age poor by £12 bn over the next three years. But during the campaign they only said where £2 bn of these savings would come from. That leaves £10 bn still to find. Some experts think the only way they can close that gap is by means testing child benefit – with millions of families losing out

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be tax cuts for those in work and those who die

The Tories will increase the threshold at which the 40p rate of tax becomes payable to £50,000 by 2020. They haven’t said so but it is also likely that at some point in the next five years they will abolish that 45p rate of tax altogether for the highest earners. They also want to increase the effective inheritance tax threshold for married couples and civil partners to £1m

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be an in/out EU referendum in 2017

The next two years are going to be dominated by the prospect of a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. First off David Cameron has the daunting task of negotiating a deal with other EU leaders an acceptable deal that he can sell to his party so he can go into the referendum campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote. This may be unachievable and it is possible that the Tories may end up arguing to leave. Opinion polls show Britain is divided on EU membership, one poll this year showed 51% said they would opt to leave compared to 49% who would vote to stay in

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be more privatisation of the NHS

Having won the election the Tories now have a mandate to go further and faster reforming the NHS. In order to make cost savings there is likely to be greater private involvement in running services, while some smaller hospitals may lose services they currently provide like A&E and maternity units

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There will be many more free schools – and traditional state schools will become a thing of the past

The Tories plans to create 500 new free schools and make 3,000 state schools become academies. They will also carry on reforming the Department of Education and remove more powers from local authorities over how schools are run

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

On shore wind farms will be a thing of the past and fracking will be the future

Government spending on renewable energy is under real threat now the Lib Dems are no longer in power with the Tories. Subsidies are likely to be slashed for off-shore wind farm and other green energy supplies. Meanwhile there will be generous tax break for fracking as ministers try and incentivise the industry to drill for onshore oil and gas

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

There maybe more free childcare – but not necessarily

In the campaign the Tories pledged to double the amount of free early education for three- and four-year-olds from 15 hours a week to 30. The extra hours would only be offered to working families where parents are employed for at least eight hours a week. However they have not said where the money will come from to fund the pledge

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What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain?

Workers' rights could be reduced

The Tories want to slash business regulation, merge regulator and cut costs. The Lib Dems stopped them from reducing the employment rights of workers in power – but these are now under threat

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The plans, set to be announced in tomorrow's Budget and be included in the government's Enterprise Bill over the next 10 months. They signal the biggest shake-up of Sunday trading laws for 20 years and the Chancellor predicts it will lead to a significant economic boost.

However the liberalisation has already run into opposition from unions and is also likely to face opposition from religious groups and some Tory MPs.

John Hannett, secretary general of the shopworkers’ union Usdaw, said he would trade unions will campaign against it, claiming there will “not be any economic benefits”.

He said the move was “very disappointing” and will put pressure on existing employees, while the Keep Sunday Special group accused the government of trying to "fundamentally alter the balance and harmony of our national life in such a underhand manner".

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