'Should the clocks go back?' Poll discussion

Rocket555

I emailed Rebecca Harris (the MP who is introducing this bill) supporting her and she replied:
The best possible thing is to get as many people as possible to pester their MPs to turn up and support my Bill when its gets its second reading in the House on December 3rd. The more you show up the better and they are more likely to if they know a lot of their residents want them to!

Please contact your MP asking them to turn up and support her.

My own views are that we should stay in the same time zones as France and Germany ie don't move the clocks this Autumn and then move them forward an hour next summer. The Autumn after that put the clocks back an hour etc.
The Scots can stick to their own time zone if they wish - they do not have to follow the rest of Britain.

I can understand why the Scots oppose this bill, but America exists on 3 different timescales so Britain could exist on 2 very easily!!!.
If the Scottish oppose this - the Scots have their own parliament, so if they decide to leave their time as it is, this is a matter for them - after all if they can make a huge decision like the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, surely they can have their own time zone if they wish!!

I suffer from SAD - PLEASE support this.

geordie_joe

adouglasmhor wrote: »

They could vary their working hours.

Not that many people can do that.

geordie_joe

Rocket555 wrote: »

but America exists on 3 different timescales so Britain could exist on 2 very easily!!!.

Are you sure it's not 4?

The timezones in the USA are divided east to west based on when the sun is overhead. It is like that for a physical reason, not because the people wanted it that way.

hayleythedaisy

Move it half an hour back and leave it. Then it's a compromise for everyone.

I really don't think this should be a big concern for the government, there are many more pressing issues.

biosh

sheeps68 wrote: »

Personally I'd prefer GMT all year round. Dont see point or need to change them at all and we are after all on Greenwich meridian.

I agree - go back to GMT and stay there!
I never put my watch forward in the Spring.............

nellg

sheeps68 wrote: »

Personally I'd prefer GMT all year round. Dont see point or need to change them at all and we are after all on Greenwich meridian.

Agreed. 'Fraid I'm a bit pathetic. Like fish and chips, I see GMT as part of our Britishness, and would be really sad to see it abandoned and an unnatural time adopted all year round.

adouglasmhor

geordie_joe wrote: »

Not that many people can do that.

Quite a few can.

siarad_2

I grew up with this & it's terrible for children, in the summer, having to go to bed half way through the day, or so it seemed.
Couldn't get to sleep as it was too hot even without blankets & with the searing sun cutting through the curtains.

alf_hooker

I don't see that we have the real option of "not putting our clocks back". That would mean Greenwich Mean Time never applied at the Greenwich Meridian (unless we moved GMT and put everyone else's clocks out).

If we want to stop moving our clocks about, we have to stay with GMT all year round, i.e. we do put the clocks back, and then we leave them there.

geordie_joe

nellg wrote: »

Agreed. 'Fraid I'm a bit pathetic. Like fish and chips, I see GMT as part of our Britishness, and would be really sad to see it abandoned and an unnatural time adopted all year round.

I agree. it is also more than just being British, it is the point all time zones are measured from. Every time zone in the world is defined as being X hours ahead or behind GMT.

It's not just time either. The earth is divided into 24 time zones, each one an hour ahead of the one following it. Half way around the world from us is the international date line.

When it's 1pm on Monday in the UK, it's 1 am on Tuesday in Australia. Because they are 12 hours ahead of us. If we change our time what do we do, tell the auzzies they are are not only on the wrong time, but on the wrong day too!

Or do we adopt a time system that's one or two hours ahead and then go round saying things like "the clock says it's 11am, but it's really 9 am".

it'll be like decimalisation, they said from now on you have to buy everything in litres instead of pints. But nearly 40 years later I can't buy a litre of milk anywhere, nor have i found a pub selling a litre of beer.

If we change our time, permanently, we will still have to keep GMT because the rest of the world relies on it. Well we will, unless we can convince the rest of the world to change the way they calculate their time.

And don't forget, the only reason most of Europe is an hour ahead of is because the French wanted the meridian to go through Paris not London. When they didn't get their own way they adopted a time that was 1 hour ahead, just to spite us. It's their time that is wrong, not ours.