Introduction

It's hard to find anyone who has anything good to say about that strange misnomer Daylight Saving Time (DST). Not that changing the clocks twice a year "saves" any time at all—it merely pushes the available daylight toward morning or evening.

The world has changed a great deal since the turn of the 20th century—which was when DST was first mooted. And whatever the benefits DST offered when it was first implemented (during the First World War, when most people worked outside), they have surely long gone and there seems to be no good reason to continue with it—in England and Wales at least. The proposition may be somewhat different in Scotland, but I don't see why the Scots couldn't continue with DST if they wished. There is also good evidence that both lives and energy could be saved by scrapping the current system.

There is a Bill before Parliament that would change the current system in favour of SDST (single/double summer time, which is the same as Central European Time, in which the summer months would be Greenwich Mean Time + 2 hours, and in winter GMT + 1), but so far the government has not indicated any support. While this Bill has merit, I think we should go a step further and do away with changing the clocks altogether and move instead to a single, unchanging time of GMT plus one hour—otherwise known as British Standard Time. In other words, we would move to what is now British Summer Time all year round. Read up on it. If you like the idea, write to your MP (find him or her here); write to a newspaper; and for a laugh (as if a petition to the British Government ever changed anything...) sign a No 10 petition - find one here

A (very) Brief History of (Daylight Saving) Time

If you want to know where you are on the surface of the earth, you need two pieces of information: your north-south position and your east-west position. This can be difficult at sea, especially when out of sight of land and without the convenience of satellite positioning. North-South measurements are fairly straightforward, and have been made by seafarers for millennia. You need only measure the angle of a couple of known stars, or the sun, or even the moon. East-West measurements are quite a different matter, and the problem was only solved in the 18th century when John Harrison built a sufficiently accurate and reliable clock. This one here, in fact. With accurate clocks came the gold standard of time, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and it remains true that if you want to calculate your longitude, you need to know precisely what time it is in London.

With the building of the railways in the 19th Century, it became necessary for land-lubbers to know the right time too. All the towns on a railway line had to adopt a common time standard if the new trains were to arrive before they departed—which wasn't always the case when each town measured its own time in its own special way. GMT, which had been serving the navy for years, was the obvious choice and it soon became the legal standard of time.

Daylight Saving schemes had been mooted for years before the First World War (Benjamin Franklin was keen on the idea in the 18th century), but it wasn't until 1916 that the Germans started to adopt DST in an effort to maximize production in their war effort. Britain and many other countries swiftly followed suit and the practice has been with us, off and on, ever since.

Proposals to change or scrap DST

Aside from the possible advantages in road safety and energy saving, there is also the question of whether you prefer light earlier in the morning or later into the evening. If you prefer light in the mornings and dark evenings, then GMT is for you; if you prefer lighter evenings, go for GMT + 1 or even 2.

Several moves have recently been made to change the current system (ref), including a Bill sponsored by Tim Yeo that is before Parliament, and petitions and campaigns are making the news. The charity ROSPA is in no doubt as to the advantages of changing our current arrangements (to lighter evenings), as are various other charities, businesses and millions of people.

You know it makes sense! Write to someone; find a petition here; make yourself useful!

Links

Tim Yeo writes in the Guardian - here

History of DST - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time

Hilary Burrage's Daylight Saving page - here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6093560.stm

http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/advice/general/summertime_policy.htm