Climate Change Bill [HL]

It is not so long ago that I had some responsibility in this House for road safety and then for agriculture. In the first job, I was told that daylight saving would undoubtedly save lives, and I think that is true. The noble Lord, Lord Taylor, needs to look at the road safety statistics. In the second, the farmers were by and large against it. On the other hand, I rather agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, that practices in the countryside, agricultural collections and milking times have changed. I probably agree with the noble Lords who argue that in Scotland this is not yet so. Reflecting what my noble friend Lord Puttnam just said, it is possible if there are different impacts in different parts of the country for different Administrations within the land to take different decisions, as indeed operates in different parts of the country. I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Tanlaw, would repeat this were he here. When I was Minister with responsibility for road safety, I actually got agreement that we should change from the Welsh and Northern Ireland regimes—admittedly the Northern Ireland regime at that point was not hugely democratic. The Scottish Ministers were adamantly opposed to it. I think that the energy arguments now overtake the arguments on road safety and agriculture and for the greater good we should at least address the issue. No doubt my noble friend will tell us whether we need an amendment to do that. I believe that the issue needs addressing.