Central European Time

My Lords, I am well versed in this issue. The European Union spans 34 degrees of latitude, whereas, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Howe, mentioned, China spans almost 65 degrees. I wholeheartedly support the points that Lord Jenkins made. This idea is not, as some critics have claimed, London-centric. I was pleased that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Howe, intervened to refer to China, where, as he rightly said, there is one time zone, which extends from Shanghai practically to Samarkand. As he said, people in China cope very well indeed. The House of Commons research note says that bringing the United Kingdom in line with central European time will almost certainly increase communication with the rest of the EU, since more of the working day would coincide. I am reminded of the statistic given by the CBI, which claimed that, in communication terms, there is practically—with lunchtimes—only four hours of telephone contact between us and the rest of Europe. I sincerely hope that the Government will not just pay lip service to our cause to alter the present summer time arrangements. I hope that they will give serious consideration to initiating an in-depth study analysing the options for change.