Lidl Britain: Top Burnham ally demands looser planning rules for budget supermarkets and axing of Sunday trading laws

By DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 12:10, 3 July 2026 | Updated: 12:10, 3 July 2026 A Labour ally of Andy Burnham has called for planning rules to be relaxed to encourage more budget supermarkets to open in working class areas and alleviate the cost of living crisis. Yuan Yang said that the likes of Aldi and Lidl should be enticed to open stores in working class 'food deserts' - neighbourhoods with few outlets - though changes to regulations. Writing for the Labour organisation the Fabian Society she also said that Sunday trading laws should be liberalised in the short term to stop working people having to rely on smaller, more expensive shops that are allowed to open later than supermarkets. 'These smaller shops cost consumers 10-20 per cent more than large supermarkets thanks to higher prices and fewer offers,' she wrote. 'In the longer run, we can also look at planning laws to make it easier for supermarkets to build in new areas, such as relaxing car park requirements.  'Previous policy changes that allowed the expansion of Lidl and Aldi created ''estimated welfare gains of 3.5 per cent on certain basic products''. 'The government could look at specific development rights for low-cost supermarkets, especially in areas that are not served by larger shops.  'This would reduce ''food deserts'' where shoppers are potentially paying higher prices at corner shops or ''express'' supermarkets.' Ms Yang, a former economist and journalist, has been MP for Earley and Woodley since 2024.  She has been tipped for a ministerial role under Mr Burnham and has praised his 'Manchesterism' plan for Britain. Yuan Yang said that the likes of Aldi and Lidl should be enticed to open stores in working class 'food deserts' - neighbourhoods with few outlets - though changes to regulations Your browser does not support iframes. Writing for the Labour organisation the Fabian Society she also said that Sunday trading laws should be liberalised to help people who work on weekends save money Laws passed in 1994 allow shops to open on Sundays but limited how long for.  Retail units larger than 280 square metres or 3,000 square feet are limited to opening for six hours between 10 am and 6pm, while those smaller than this can open for longer.  It means that while large supermarkets face restrictions, their smaller express stores, which have boomed in the intervening period, do not. The law only applies to England and Wales, while Northern Ireland has similar rules. Scotland has no such restrictions.  England's restrictions were suspended for eight weeks during the 2012 London Olympics, leading to a 3.2 per cent increase in sales. The Liberal Democrats are among those who have called for a permanent rethink, saying that it should be up to local councils to decide opening hours.  Polls have consistently showed support for extending opening hours. A June survey by YouGov found 54 per cent believed shops should be allowed to open as long as they wanted, which 27 per cent backed the six-hour status quo.  Almost one-in eight (12 per cent) said shops should not open at all. In her article Ms Yang also called for action to make UK farmers less reliant on oil and fertiliser imports, which have been affected by the US war with Iran. She called on retailers to sell more 'plant based foods' in their own-brand ranges, saying it would 'reduce supermarkets' vulnerability to the highly volatile price of animal proteins'. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.