Today, I backed 'Churchill Time' : a Parliamentary bill to objectively look at the benefits of moving the clocks forward by one hour, a move which he says could save lives and create jobs in Harlow
The bill called on the Government to conduct a comprehensive review of the costs and benefits of putting clocks forward an hour throughout the UK, resulting in lighter evenings every day of the year.
I am in favour of what I call 'Churchill time'. During the second world war, Churchill moved the clocks forward by an hour to maximise production at munitions factories, and to ensure people were able to get home safely before the blackout in winter.
This emergency measure was removed after the war but it worked brilliantly at the time. Lighter evenings would be good for Harlow, and good for Britain.
The arguments in favour of clock change are compelling. This one simple low-cost policy could bring wide ranging benefits to the whole of the UK including saving lives on our roads, creating much needed jobs in the tourism sector and reducing the fear of crime on dark evenings.
Supporters argue that lighter evenings would save lives on the roads by making more of the busiest evening rush hours occur in daylight, create jobs by boosting the tourism sector, and make many people especially older people feel safer going out in the evenings for longer.
Sadly, even this modest Bill - which just called for a pilot study in certain areas - was stopped by a small handful of Parliamentarians, who did everything they could to filibuster the legislation as it was being discussed. As a result the proposals ran out of Parliamentary time.
For more about the idea visit www.lighterlater.org
