CAMERON MAY GIVE US PERMANENT SUMMER TIME

David Cameron has proposed that the clocks be moved forward on a permanent basis to what he calls British Summer Time, but what is, in fact, the time that Western Europe uses. And I totally agree.

It makes sense that the UK should be in line with its trading partners in the European Union. Every day there must be a period of 2 hours (at the beginning and end of the working day) when offices in one or other of the partners are closed... not to mention lunch hours.

Cameron’s plan would be that the time stays the same all the year round and that there would be no move forward (to GMT + 2) in the summer. It would boost the tourist trade and mean that people would have an hour longer in the evenings before the dark set in.

There is of course a problem with the morning rush hour having to be dealt with in the North of Scotland in the dark. And some people are getting themselves into a state over this.

Angus MacNeill, the SNP MP for Nan-Eilean Siar has said that Cameron needs to wake up to the impact that the proposals would have on people in Scotland. But to be honest, I don’t think that the impact will be huge. He says that it is wrong to plunge Dundee into Darkness in an attempt to boost Tourism in Torquay. Nice alliteration Angus, but I live in Dundee and, at the moment in the winter the 5 o’clock rush hour takes place in the dark. We would transfer that to the mornings... Does that make a huge difference? As to your own constituency, with respect I imagine that there will not be a massive rush hour on Nan-Eilean Siar.....

An alternative idea, which has been proposed by MacNeill himself is that the change still go ahead but that it should take place later in the year, and that is certainly worth considering. A time change in December and change back in February would be worth thinking about. Unfortunately Angus then comes out with a totally crazy suggestion that the people “down south” should be persuaded to get up earlier to enjoy the sunshine. I hope that was a joke.

David Cameron has said that the proposal will not go ahead without the agreement of the Scots and that he does not favour a situation where Scotland and England are in different time zones. Clearly that would be bad for trade between Scotland and the rest of the UK so I hope that Scots can be persuaded to consider seriously supporting the change. It seems wrong that 6 million people should hold back the wishes of the majority of Brits.

Additionally it should boost our trade and give us longer evenings at the same time.

One possible problem could come with Ireland, where there is much cross border activity and where the republic still uses GMT and GMT + 1. Unless Eire was minded to change, that might prove a bigger stumbling block than Scotland.