Daylight savings: we must go forward in time

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Winston Churchill put Britain’s clock forward by one hour, so that more waking hours were spent in daylight. He did this to save energy, boost morale and ensure that workers could get home before the blackout. After the war the clocks were put back one hour to their pre-war setting.

This was a mistake. Pushing the clocks permanently forward by one hour would bring substantial benefits to Britain. It would save fuel, up to £24 per household per year. It would make our roads safer and provide a very welcome shot in the arm for our tourism and leisure industries.

In 2011, I put forward a private member’s bill in the House of Commons that would have required government to carry out a proper study of the pros and cons of this proposal, followed perhaps by a three-year trial. The bill suggested an investigation into whether it would be beneficial for Britain to remain on British Summer Time through the winter months, instead of changing the clocks back to GMT, and of going to BST+1 in summer. Sadly my bill did not succeed—but it did bring together hundreds of different groups in support of the idea and who provided evidence in its favour.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and other road safety organisations say that moving the clocks forward an hour would prevent 80 road deaths a year and many more serious injuries. Tourism organisations believe that more daylight would increase tourist revenues by as much as £4bn and create up to 80,000 jobs. Environmentalists such as Greenpeace say that a decrease in the use of electric lights during the evening peak time would reduce energy bills and emissions.

Over 300 sporting organisations including the Football Association and the Lawn Tennis Association believe the extra hour of evening daylight would increase participation in sport, with the attendant health benefits that this would bring. Saga and Age UK believe the change would add to the quality of life of older people, who tend to prefer going out during daylight hours. Finally, police chiefs believe that more daylight hours in the evenings will reduce crime and fear of crime.

These arguments are not lost on other countries. The majority of mainland Europe is already an hour ahead of UK time. A strong campaign is growing in the Republic of Ireland to move to it, but they will be hesitant unless the UK moves also.

My bill, like other attempts to address this issue in parliament, ran into opposition, principally from Scottish politicians. They argue that the later sunrise in Scotland imperils children going to school and causes problems for farmers and outdoor workers. It was these arguments that ended the experiment of 1968-71, when Harold Wilson’s government put Britain’s clocks forward by one hour. The experiment was ended and the benefits were not properly analysed. Scottish road safety worries are not supported by evidence. It is likely to reduce injuries and fatal accidents more in Scotland than England and Wales. Farming practices have changed greatly in 40 years, meaning farmers in all parts of the UK are ambivalent or stand to benefit from putting the clocks forward. Farmers’ unions in England and Scotland no longer oppose the idea.

Polling in Scotland actually suggests that Scots are far more in favour of the change than their representatives. A pre-referendum poll of 3,000 people in Scotland back in 2012 conducted by nPower, the energy company, found that 53 per cent of the Scottish public was in favour and 35 per cent against. Every year at the autumn clock change we have the same debate. A new grass roots campaign has sprung up, Happy Hour, to support the other more established campaign groups like Lighter Later.

In October, the Chairman of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents wrote to William Hague requesting that, in view of the government’s commitment to further devolution, the right of Scotland to have its own time zone should be considered.

This issue isn’t going to go away and the arguments in favour are only going to get stronger. It is time we gave it a chance.