Extra Daylight Savings is a no-brainer

Three cheers to Conservative MP Tim Yeo, who in this post on the Guardian’s Comment is Free site, explains why he is once again championing the cause of extra daylight savings time all year round through a private members bill.

Yeo has been drawn near the top of the ballot for the second year running, and is proposing a three year experiment to make evenings lighter by putting Britain on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) plus one hour in winter (the equivalent of British Summer Time), and GMT plus two hours in summer. Darker mornings a few weeks in the year in winter, when most people are going to work, would be offset by precious daylight at the end of the day, when they could enjoy it.

Arguments for? It would prevent almost 100 deaths a year; we would cut our winter CO2 emissions by roughly 1.2m tonnes and bring the price of electricity down by 5%; it would boost tourism revenues; greater recreation time would be available; we would be a happier and healthier nation (less crime and depression given the phasing of daylight hours).

Arguments against? The Scots won’t like it (even though Yeo’s bill gives them an opt-out).

I know which way I would be voting. But what do the Scottish-heavy Labour benches think?