'NO' says Fr Daniel Seward, parish priest at Oxford Oratory You don’t have to be religious to think that keeping Sunday as a day of rest is a good idea.

The 10 Commandments lay down that there should be a day of rest.

This meant that workers, servants, slaves and even animals would not be made to work beyond their strength.

Modern ecology agrees that if we exploit the Earth without ceasing, eventually we will destroy it. It’s the same with human beings: it isn’t healthy to work seven days a week.

Everyone needs time to rest, and to spend time with their families.

Relaxing Sunday trading laws inevitably affects the lowest-paid workers the most, since they are least able to refuse to work.

This is why the laws against Sunday trading used to safeguard workers’ rights, to ensure that everyone had enough time off.

If we want to have a harmonious society, with community coherence, it’s also important that this should be a day we all share in common.

The argument that more Sunday trading will stimulate the economy is just a continuation of the discredited economic ideas that have landed us in our present mess.

'Yes' says Nigel Wild, president of Oxfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

The temporary relaxation of the Sunday trading laws will allow larger stores to remain open as long as they wish.

Britain is in recession and the Olympics offer an opportunity to showcase UK plc and give the countless thousands of visitors to the Games a positive and lasting impression of our nation.

Visitors will have money to spend on everything from a souvenir mug to the latest fashion. ‘Shop closed’ signs are not what they want or expect to see, because they mean ‘You’re not welcome’.

Britain is a wonderful place to visit, we want those tourists to keep coming back.

With austerity continuing to bite, many are feeling the pinch. Extra company revenue means greater job security; extra personal income eases the pressure on family budgets.

Fears have been voiced that this is the thin end of the wedge, that Sunday trading laws will be permanently relaxed.

But staff need have no fears, they have the right not to work on a Sunday if they so wish.

Nobody wants to see exploitation and a sweatshop culture.