Nor The Stranger That Is Within Thy Gates

My Scots father used to talk of his shock at arriving in England just after the War, when he was in his mid-twenties, and finding that nothing was open on a Sunday. He had never seen anything like it in his life.

Staying with his brother, an elder of the Church of Scotland, in my 1980s childhood, it was perfectly normal to have Sunday afternoon trips to the supermarket. Everyone seemed to do it.

Not that I approve. But at least the staff were being paid more. However, that would not survive if the supermarket chains also had to pay for staff all day on Sundays in England and Wales.

So, this time, the SNP is quite right. And once again, the complete non-existence of "English-only matters", or even "English-and-Welsh-only matters" is exposed, even where there is no Barnett funding involved.

England's sheer size means that anything that happened here would always have an impact throughout the Kingdom, as any Speaker of the House of Commons would always rule if presented with a specific case.

Meanwhile, add Sunday trading to the ever-lengthening list of matters that this Government dare not so much as bring to the floor of that House.