A WORLD OUT OF TIME--Britain considers moving clocks forward an hour

Jan. 26, 2007, 3:41PM
Britain considers moving clocks forward an hour

By DAVID STRINGER
Associated Press

LONDON — With a single sweep of an hour hand, Britain could shift closer to its continental neighbors and illuminate the thick gloom of winter evenings, a former minister said today, outlining proposals to set the country's clocks in line with mainland Europe.

The proposal to switch to Central European Time, 60 minutes ahead of current settings, aims to reduce road deaths, boost tourism and promote outdoor activities, former Environment Minister Tim Yeo said.

Regional legislatures in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland would be free to opt out of the system, however — raising the prospect that London could wake up with Paris, but not at the same time as Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast.

Yeo, an opposition Conservative lawmaker, said his plan was "a simple change which would benefit everyone by creating a safer and greener country."

He said government studies have predicted a time shift would lead to fewer road deaths, an increase in tourism earnings and a reduction in energy consumption — aiding efforts to meet carbon emissions targets.

To be put formally to parliament, the plan needs government sponsorship, after filibustering legislators prevented a vote today.

Yeo argued today that for the price of an extra hour of darkness each morning, Britons would have "healthier lives with more social and recreational opportunities."

Though the Department of Trade and Industry said it had no current plans to change timekeeping arrangements, municipal authorities have suggested they plan to press the government to examine the options.

Currently, clocks in Britain go forward in the spring when daylight savings time takes effect and are turned back in the fall, and Yeo advocated standing by the practice.

David Rooney, curator of timekeeping at London's Royal Greenwich Observatory — the point where universal standard time is measured — said the proposed change comes exactly 100 years after lawmakers first put forward the idea of daylight savings in 1907.

Britain adopted summer time in 1916, during World War I; during World War II, summer time was set two hours ahead.

The nation experimented with year-round summer time from Feb. 18, 1968, to Oct. 31, 1971.

"At the time, the House of Commons was told there would be permanent summer following the change. It caused hoots of laughter when the winds began howling and snow fell," Rooney said.

"After three years there was no consensus on whether the trial had been a success, in part because a one-size fits all solution has never been correct for Britain," he added.

Southern towns and cities traditionally bask in warmer weather than Britain's northern regions and enjoy more sunlight, meaning the effect of darker mornings would be felt most severely in northern England and Scotland.

"During the experiments, some areas of Scotland were in the dark until midmorning, so it seems certain the Scottish parliament would not join England in changing time," Rooney said.

Similar problems in Wales and Northern Ireland would likely see the proposals rejected in Cardiff and Belfast, Rooney said.

In January in southern England, dawn breaks around 7:30 a.m. and dusk falls at 4:45 p.m. Aberdeen, in eastern Scotland, enjoys less sunlight — with dawn at around 8 a.m. and the sun setting at close to 4:20 p.m.

Scottish legislator Angus MacNeil said England had won a "latitude lottery" and already had a longer day than Scotland. It would be small-minded and unfair to impose on Scots a 9:30 a.m dawn, he said.

Lawmaker Charles Hendry told the debate separate time zones could "fragment the nation" and warned London's booming financial industry would be hit.
[link to www.chron.com]