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Last week, it became clear that the Conservative Party program committee will open for stores open on Sundays. NTB can now say that the Liberal Party’s program committee also believes the party should go to the polls next fall to remove the ban on shops opening on Sundays next fall.
– People live different lives, and I don’t think it’s the job of politicians to ban when people should be allowed to buy food, says Unge Venstre leader Sondre Hansmark, who sits on the program committee.
– I think very few people want to go back to the 1970s, when stores closed at 5 in the afternoon on weekdays and didn’t open on Saturdays. I believe, on the contrary, that people appreciate freedom of choice and flexible everyday life, tells NTB.
Thus, conservatives and liberals end up in full confrontation with the government partner KrF, who will keep the Sunday different and as free of trade as possible.
– Just as free
The discussion about stores open on Sundays has flared up again during the corona pandemic.
Supporters have noted that keeping larger stores open on Sundays could reduce the risk of infection. Today, only the so-called Brustad arches, grocery stores of up to 100 square meters, can be open on Sundays.
Opponents have responded, however, that store employees also need time off and that it takes time to clean stores.
– Six days a week, there are no restrictions on when stores can stay open. If you can have stores open at night, I think it’s hard to understand why you shouldn’t be allowed on Sundays, says Hansmark.
– Many people think that this means that people have to work longer, but that is not true. We do not intend to change the regulations on working hours, so people have the right to as much free time as ever.
High resistance to KrF
But KrF leader Kjell Ingolf Ropstad is very clear: KrF will continue to work to make Sunday a different day. One day a week should be used for leisure, rest, time with family and friends rather than increasing consumption at the biggest Sunday opening, he believes.
– Not good for people or the environment. That is why the trade union movement, the commercial industry, the environmental movement, voluntary organizations and most of the people are also against it, Ropstad tells NTB.
– Having to work on a Sunday, which most likely would have become a reality for many if we had introduced shops open on Sundays, will make it more difficult for families with children, for example. Children cannot decide which days they should be in kindergarten or go to school, says the Minister for Children and Families.
Conservatives want municipalities to decide
The Conservative Party’s program committee also refers to the need for “more flexible solutions in everyday life” as a justification for allowing stores to open on Sundays.
– Conservatives want to abolish the county governor’s approval scheme for tourist townships and leave it to the township itself to decide whether it should be allowed with shops open on Sundays in all or part of the township, he says.
The committee will also open for alcohol sales in stores until 11pm and will keep Vinmonopolet open until 8pm on weekdays.
On the government platform that Tories, Liberals and Liberals agreed to at Jeløya in 2018, it was stated that the government would “simplify the rules for Sunday shopping.” But when KrF entered the government and the Granavolden platform was built the following year, this was left out.
