From next year, Christmas Day opening by supermarkets and other large stores is to be banned by the government.

"Regulation will ensure that the special nature of Christmas Day is preserved and that shop workers in large stores are protected from being forced to work.

"We know that the vast majority of major stores do not open on Christmas Day and believe that legislation now will avoid future widespread opening of stores as a result of competitive pressure."

Forum Response: Somerfield

A spokesman for Somerfield told ePolitix.com: "Somerfield has no plans to open any of its larger supermarkets on Christmas Day and has experienced little if any demand from customers to do so.

"We do however operate over 100 small stores where customers depend on extended opening hours and the convenience of all day opening on Sunday.

"We plan to open a small number of these stores (ten) on Christmas Day this year where there is significant demand.

"These stores are mainly on petrol forecourts or in busy city centre locations and offer a range of fresh foods and groceries for local people and shoppers on the go.

"These stores are exclusively staffed by individuals who have volunteered to work on the day many of whom do not celebrate Christmas for whatever reason."

Forum Response: Usdaw

Sir Bill Connor, general secretary of Usdaw, said: "Usdaw has long argued that shopworkers have the right to spend Christmas Day at home with their families.

"Earlier this year, we conducted a survey of 1,000 shopworkers which found that almost all of them supported a legal ban on Christmas Day trading.

"Significantly, 98 per cent feared that without protection, staff would be forced to work on December 25th.

"We have campaigned long and hard for this change to the law.

"This is fantastic news for Usdaw members who work extremely hard and under great pressure in the run up to Christmas.

"Legislation is essential to prevent large stores opening and guarantee that shopworkers can spend Christmas Day with their families."

Forum Response: British Retail Consortium

Bill Moyes, director general of the BRC, told ePolitix.com: "Some retailers have experimented with opening those stores in locations where there is a strong ethnic diversity.

"There appears to be no clear demand from customers for Christmas Day opening, which is why the number of large shops open has declined each year.

"On this evidence Patricia Hewitt's stance against large retailers seems unnecessarily heavy-handed and begs the question as to why other services that open on Christmas Day have not been targeted too."

Forum Response: Institute of Directors

Richard Wilson, business policy executive at the IoD, told ePolitix.com: "The government's plan to prohibit supermarkets and other large stores from opening on Christmas Day is thoroughly welcome.

"Large retailers are often open at weekends in the run up to Christmas and so closing down for one day is hardly going to be fatal to their commercial prospects.

"A break from opening also makes good sense for all those employers and staff who will have worked so hard in the weeks before Christmas. It is only right that they have an opportunity to recuperate from the pressures that they have been under and have a chance to celebrate Christmas themselves.

"As for the public, most people will surely have had ample opportunity to go shopping throughout December and so they should be able to survive one day without the shops being open."