Member News
By Tony Grew - 3rd December 2010
The Commons has voted to allow a private member's bill to move to the next stage.
Rebecca Harris' bill would require the government to conduct a cross-departmental analysis of the potential costs and benefits of advancing time by one hour for all, or part of, the year.
If this analysis found that a clock change would benefit the UK, the bill requires that the government initiate a trial clock change to determine the full implications.
Today MPs voted by 92 votes to 10 to allow the bill to move on to the committee stage.
However, some Scottish MPs raised objections in a debate that lasted more than four hours.
Harris (Con, Castle Point) told the House that the question of how we best use our daylight hours "has been debated for well over 100 years".
"Daylight saving proposals in one form or another have been brought to the House or to the other place on many occasions and by many more experienced and more distinguished parliamentarians than me."
She said her proposals have been backed by the Lighter Later coalition.
"Such unusual bedfellows as the Kennel Club, Greenpeace, the British Beer and Pub Association, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, the AA, the Football Association and Parentline Plus."
Harris told MPs she has heard the concerns of "amateur astronomers, saying that in the height of summer the measure could delay their ability to gaze at the stars for an extra hour, and the orthodox Jewish community that in the deep midwinter that there could be problems in getting to work on time after morning prayers".
She argued that those problems are not insurmountable.
She also rejected jibes about "Berlin time" and suggestions the move has been prompted by the EU.
"The issue is not about Berlin or getting rid of tradition; it is entirely about what is right for the residents of these islands and nothing else. It involves a simple question about how we should best use our daylight hours."
Albert Owen (Lab, Ynys Mon) backed the bill and said the benefits outweigh any problems that might occur.
"There would be less crime, fewer road accidents and fatalities, and increased recreational activities and tourism, which would provide a boost for all parts of the UK, particularly those north-western regions," he said.
Roger Gale (Con, North Thanet) called the bill a "sensible measure" and said Scotland should have its own timezone if it wants.
"I am not speaking as a founder member of the Rebuild Hadrian's Wall Society, but it is incorrect to say that the concept of having one time zone south of the wall, or border, and another on the other side of it is unacceptable."
Angus MacNeil (SNP, Na h-Eileanan an Iar) said the bill will in reality move people into darkness, not daylight.
"The sleight of hand is that we are not moving the dawn about," he said.
"We are actually moving ourselves by changing the clocks.
"Clocks, which started by measuring time, end up governing lives, and we are moving ourselves into the night."
Bob Stewart (Con, Beckenham) said the "crucial thing is: will we save lives by changing the hours at which daylight starts and daylight ends?"
"We should check that and the only way we can do so is to give this a trial, 40 years on from the previous one," he told MPs.
"If we save one life by changing our clocks, it is worth it."
Tobias Ellwood (Con, Bournemouth East) said moving the clocks forward "would provide the entire country with about 200 hours of extra daylight in the evenings—after a normal working day for adults and after the end of school for children".
"That would change our lives."
Caroline Lucas (Green, Brighton Pavilion) said the bill would bring substanital reductions in carbon emissions and energy consumption.
"The urgency of the problems of climate change and fuel poverty means that the arguments for bringing the nation’s clocks into closer alignment with the hours of daylight are stronger than ever," she said.
Angie Bray (Con, Ealing Central and Acton) also backed the bill.
"I remember when I was at St Andrews university it was light up until about 11 o’clock at night at certain times, and that seemed a little bit too long for me," she told the House.
"I am a British summer time girl and I am for sticking with it right through the year, but that is another argument that will be tested if we have scrutiny and a trial.
"That is the only way that we can move out of the revolving door of private members’ bills.
"Let us have proper scrutiny, so that the matter can be decided once and for all for the benefit of our constituents and the country as a whole."
Claire Perry (Con, Devizes) backed a proposal from fellow Conservatives.
"I actually think that the measure should be called 'Churchill time,'" she said.
Naomi Long (Alliance, Belfast East) told MPs that there are some issues unique to Northern Ireland, such as "our land border with another region".
"Some people live on one side of the border, but go to school, church or community organisations on the other side.
"It is a very permeable border."
She added: "One member said that they found it incredibly irritating to have to change their clocks twice a year, and I think that some people in Northern Ireland might find it irritating to have to do it three or four times a day."
Business minister Ed Davey congratulated Bray and Ellwood, "who have rechristened the question one of 'Churchill time.'"
"That is not only a positive reference to the last wartime coalition, but a reference to the great man’s membership of both the Liberal and Conservative parties," he told the House.
Davey said the goverment's view is that it is unclear whether there would be a positive impact on crime rates, climate change and general public health.
The government see many arguments in favour of the changes, he said, but told MPs his plan to publish a review of evidence is "a more appropriate way forward".
"We would all appreciate the chance to make the most of lighter evenings and welcome the benefits to energy saving and road safety that the change might bring, but unless and until we can extend the hours of daylight - I doubt that we could do that - lighter evenings means darker mornings," Davey said.
"A responsible government must take careful account of the disadvantages that that would bring to certain communities."
MPs decided to send the bill on to the committee stage.
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