Changing Time? Jack back’s Daylight Saving Bill

Local Filton and Bradley Stoke MP Jack Lopresti voted in favour of a review into the UK’s time zone. Jack attended the Parliamentary session this morning and voted in favour of the Daylight Saving Bill. The Bill was passed by 92 votes to 10. At present, the UK operates on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) during the winter and GMT + 1, also known as British Summer Time (BST), in the summer.

Between 1968 and 1971, the British Standard Time experiment saw the UK retain GMT + 1 throughout the year, bringing the UK into line with Central European Time (CET). Opinion polls were evenly divided on whether the experiment should continue, and when the issue came before the House of Commons, Members of Parliament voted overwhelmingly for a return to the standard arrangement.

Since the 1970s, eight Bills have re-opened the debate by seeking to move British time forward by one hour all year round – in line with British Standard Time Experiment, either permanently or for a trial period. Rebecca Harris MP introduced the Daylight Savings Bill in this session of Parliament.

Jack said: “I would argue that a change is necessary because the majority of people in the UK are most active in the evening, lighter evenings, which would result from the changes, would reduce artificial lighting demand (and hence energy consumption) and reduce road traffic accidents, as roads would be lighter for longer during the busier evenings. It is also suggested that a time zone change would create up to 80,000 jobs in tourism and leisure, boost the economy by up to £3.5bn each year, prevent 100 road deaths every year by making the evening rush hour lighter, reduce obesity by encouraging people to exercise after work. I believe that these are strong arguments and would support a move in this direction.”

The Bill requires the Government to launch an inquiry into the benefits of moving clocks forward by an hour throughout the year, furthermore each department of the government will be asked to conduct an investigation into the impact of moving the clocks forward by an hour. The campaign has received widespread support from road safety, environmental, tourism and sports groups.

Posted in News