Energy Saving (Daylight) Bill

Yes. That is an important point. It is about culture as much as anything else. It is not just about an individual or a community and their body clocks. I come from an industrial background where safety is vital. I always used to say to colleagues when I was their representative in the workplace that I never ever wanted to go to a household to explain to someone in the family that there had been a horrible accident. The risk of industrial accidents is an important consideration and we must consider seriously opportunities to avoid them. Road safety is another vital issue. Colleagues have talked about the Bill’s potential to save 100 lives. As far as I am concerned, that should be roundly applauded by everyone. If we can save one life, we are saving families from the trauma and tragedy that they face when they regrettably get that knock on the door. As someone who lost a member of my family in a road traffic accident a number of years ago, I know that that hits families very hard. It can be hard for them to recover from that; we are discussing time, but time is not the great healer for some households. Road safety is important, but under the terms of the Bill, which provides for daylight hours to be changed as people see fit, some localities will clearly benefit, while others may face long, dark mornings. If we were to examine the detail of the body of statistics that has been built up over the years, I am sure that we would find that it is likely that there will be more tragic accidents, deaths and injuries on the roads in Scotland.