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Don't put the clocks back yet!

I've been on the radio quite a bit and we've had national coverage too in the last 24 hours because of our call, as Eastern Greens, for an end to the silliness of putting the clocks back in October...
BST should be extended in England and Wales; Scotland can have its own devolved arrangements, should a longer BST period raise problems with mornings becoming too dark north of the border.
BST ought to be extended until at least mid-November and to start again by no later than mid-February in England and Wales.

If I get elected in 2009, one concrete result that I will try to bring home is a major change to ‘British Winter Time’: the outdated practice of putting the clocks back to Greenwich Mean Time, each October. It is unfortunately an EU rule that keeps our clocks back right through late into springtime: as an MEP, I would work to overturn that rule.

Putting the clocks back for 5 months or more each year means more lights on for more of people’s waking hours: it therefore creates unnecessary carbon emissions. And it is proven that many people suffer from light- and sunlight- deprivation in winter months: if we stayed with the clocks forward for more of the year, we would make a lot of people’s lives better.

There is also fairly strong evidence that keeping the clocks forward for longer would reduce road casualties.

This is a really clear one: it is time to let there be more light in people's waking lives!

Comments

weggis said…
Bang On. We've got east west time zones, why not north south?

Does anyone think that farmers or allotment holders take any notice?? If you've got a job to do that requires daylight you do it when there is daylight irrespective of what the "clock" says.

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