Today, in the UK at least, it's Easter Sunday. And here, we have laws that prevent shops of a certain size trading on this day. Now, if you've spent any amount of time on this site, you can probably already guess my answer to the headline question. The answer is 'yes'. What? Just kidding. The answer is a defiant 'NO' - we definitely do not need Easter Sunday trading laws - or any trading laws, for that matter.

The law, called the Sunday Trading Act 1994 states that shops over 280 square metres or 3,000 square feet big are permitted only to open for six continual hours between 10am and 6pm on a Sunday, and not at all on Easter Sunday. In researching this article, I couldn't find any objective reason as to why the law had been passed. The best I could find were generalities such as, "It's a time for families" or "It's for social and religious reasons."

On the BBC news site, I found a story from the 15th April 2006, titled: "MP Opposes Easter Sunday Shopping." At the time, talks were taking place to extend Sunday trading times, as supermarkets had requested the right to open on Easter Sundays AND to stay open for three extra hours on regular Sundays. A cross-party panel, including the said South East Cornwall MP, a Mr Colin Breed, was opposed to such plans, with their 'reason' being, again, "social and religious." They didn't go into detail.

Colin Breed had this to say, "I don't think they [the supermarkets] should be trying to steam-roller over every single aspect of our lives and we don't want them to squeeze out any more of the smaller shops. I see this campaign by the supermarkets to increase, yet again, their trading hours on a Sunday, as just a further erosion. They just want to get to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, no matter what the religious holidays are."

There are so many points wrong about this statement that I almost don't know where to start. Firstly, how are the supermarkets 'steam-rollering' over our lives? I feel just fine, thanks, Colin! Maybe where he lives, supermarkets knock at your door and force you by gunpoint to visit their store? No.

Colin, in keeping with his socialist beliefs, is ignorant as to how supermarkets earn their money. Here's how it works: They stock a product that consumers have shown they want, the consumers agree the price is right, and then they buy it. If they didn't think the price was right, the supermarket, if they wanted to stay in business, would have to improve the quality of the product to match the price, OR decrease the price to match the quality, at which point the consumers start buying.

Freedom of choice is evident at every step of the way, here, from product conception, to stocking, to selling and buying. No 'steam-rollering' has taken place. The market is the only regulator you need. His second point is even better.

He remarks that "'We' don't want them to squeeze out any more of the smaller shops." Squeeze what, exactly? What he fails to acknowledge is that the supermarkets were smaller shops at the beginning, too. But their ambitious owners decided that they weren't content with serving milk over a counter for the rest of their lives, and so planned and worked toward the expansion of their one shop into many, much larger ones.

As they, too, had their own competition, they had to operate with guile and genius in creating a product and service that was of superior quality and price to that of their competitors. And their eventual reward was a chain of supermarkets that people regularly, willingly visit to buy their quality products at the right price.

Colin continues: "I see this campaign by the supermarkets to increase, yet again, their trading hours on a Sunday, as just a further erosion." Erosion of what? He doesn't say. Then: "They just want to get to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, no matter what the religious holidays are." Hmm… Would the supermarkets profit from doing this?

If they did, it would be because people, again, were willingly putting their hand in their pocket to buy things they wanted. If the supermarkets didn't make a profit from 24/7, what would be the sense in their throwing money away keeping the shop open? Again, the market is the only regulator you need.

As an ex-retailer for many years before venturing into the business world, I was privy to the first hand views of fellow shopworkers. Needless to say, the opinions were split as to whether the law (which was a few years old by then) was a good thing or not - with most believing it was. In fact, unsurprisingly again, the majority actually believed the law was a bad thing, and that they believed that NO store should be permitted to open on ANY Sunday.

Indeed, shopworkers are among the loudest protesters. According to another BBC news story from 25 June, 2006, titled: "Shoppers 'Want Long Sunday Hours'", any Sunday extensions were vehemently opposed by the Church of England and Usdaw, the union representing shopworkers. What a surprise. The same cross-party panel 'warned' that extended shop opening times on Sundays could give some parents less time to spend with their children. (Referring to parents who willingly choose to work somewhere that operates on a Sunday)

They explain, "We would like to see this country return to a day of rest, to have a day when families can be together, have the Sunday dinner, go out and go to the seaside, play in the park." That would be really nice for them. I'm sure they'd like to hire officials round to our houses to make sure we're complying with their wishes, too. In fact, we could even sit on the floor, eating spotted dick for dessert, then ride our penny-farthings down to the park, play with our spinning tops and completely return to the nineteenth century. As long as they get their votes.

To briefly touch on the religious aspect of the Easter holiday, in the aforementioned articles a case was made for the 'respect' of Christianity. In light of it being a religious holiday, this is natural. But, being an atheist, and fighting for freedom, comments like these serve to add fuel to my fire.

If it isn't bad enough that businesses are forced to close their doors, the 'reason' given to them - that it is to pay homage to a man who came back to life again - is pure madness. Allow me to be the kid in the street calling-out the emperor wearing no clothes by declaring that this is absolutely insane.

Many businesses have been speaking out in opposition to the trading laws, exclaiming that they have cost them thousands in lost revenue. This is revenue that consumers were happily dipping their hand in their pockets for to hand over in exchange for goods and services they really wanted. Many business owners said that until the regulations were imposed, the Easter weekend was the busiest four days of the year.

Yet anti-capitalist, backward, anti-human organisations such as the 'Keep Sunday Special Campaign' would gladly have those same happy, volitional shoppers forced to stay at home against their will in order to preserve tradition.

If proof is needed that shoppers would rather have a choice to shop on Sundays or not, observe the findings of a 'YouGov' poll carried out for the 'My Sunday My Choice' campaign, (which wants the Sunday trading laws to be deregulated) - as reported in the previous BBC article.

Of 2,331 people questioned for the 'My Sunday My Choice' campaign, 57% said they should be allowed to shop when and where they want, while 23% disagreed. The campaign claims that deregulation would generate an extra £1.4bn for the UK economy and bring England and Wales into line with Scotland. The 23% would evidently prefer to have the choice taken away from them in order that nobody made more money than them. That's mental suicide if ever I heard it.

The poll executers' rival campaign 'Keep Sunday Special' says it wants to see Easter Sunday return to a family day of rest. But the poll clearly indicates that they don't want to rest. So, to force people into doing something they clearly don't want to do, is anti-freedom, and is the brainchild of nut cases.

To sum up, what we have here is a complete negation of choice and freedom. The nil by minds clamour for rules and regulations, but as per usual they fail to realise that with every rule comes another loaded gun at the head of those that break it. This is not freedom. Freedom is waking-up on Easter Sunday and realising you need to stock-up on supplies, remembering you won't have time to shop for a few days, and having the option to pop down the supermarket today, as it's your best chance.

Freedom is wanting to own a supermarket chain offering quality goods to people, at the right prices, deciding to open on Easter Sunday, and either reasoning that the sales warranted a future opening on this day, or not, but being free to choose either way.

Freedom is deciding it's time to hire extra staff to cope with the expansion of your supermarket chain, and being free to do so, pitching wages that you feel represent the value of the jobs you are offering, and either having this wage offer vindicated by the receiving of applicants, OR receiving no applicants - signifying that the wage offer is too low - and being free to offer more (or less, if the converse is true).

Freedom is wanting a job in a supermarket, finding a supermarket that is offering work, learning that they open on Easter Sundays, and the successful applicant may be required to work then, deliberating whether you would want to work on Easter Sunday, and making your final, unforced decision in light of this information.

Without choice, there is no freedom. This is what I'm fighting. Are you with me?

To freedom,

Scotty Stevens