I am not convinced that I should have allowed my hon. Friend to intervene and do a job of work for Visit Scotland, much as it will be appreciated by that organisation. It is true, though, that we live in a country where the weather plays just as important a part as the number of daylight hours. Although I represent a superb part of the country, in the south-west, I know only too well—as do the local people—that visitors do not necessarily go there for the weather. They go there for the other attractions, and, as I shall explain, the difficulties caused by a different time zone may have an impact on those.
The last experiment with lighter evenings, in 1968 to 1971, proved unpopular and was abandoned after a vote in Parliament. My hon. Friend the Minister gave an indication of how strongly it was opposed. It could be argued that time has moved on and that after nearly 40 years it is time for another experiment, but, like the hon. Member for Wealden, I think that we need much more discussion before we can think about launching one. If there is a further experiment, it may not take place for some years. Any changes in the United Kingdom’s time zone, including the adoption of central European time or single/double summer time, would need to take full account of the effect on business, transport links with other countries, health and safety issues and social and community life.
Energy Saving (Daylight) Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Russell Brown
(Labour)
in the House of Commons on Friday, 26 January 2007.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Energy Saving (Daylight) Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
455 c1728 
Session
2006-07
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
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Timestamp
2023-12-15 11:41:12 +0000
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