Pausing time- a negative effect to the UK Economy?
By Emma Peart
I recently have reported on the proposal to alter British UK time to the European timeline. More recent discussion suggests that the proposal will not move forward any further. The proposal has recently been raised again in Parliament, with Members of Parliament re-affirming that they would want the full support of the devolved nations. This has been confirmed recently by the Tourism Minister John Penrose and the Prime Minister. At this time there is strong opposition to the proposal in Scotland still.
At present, 65% of Scots are against changing the clocks, according to a recent “YouGOV” survey. Many online comments highlight again that the reason it is generally rejected in Scotland is that the north of the main isle and surrounding islands differ in sunlight patterns. Any change to the current timing will mean ineffective use of daylight.
As discussed in my previous article it would cause problems for at least agriculture as normal working hours would commence in darkness, causing economical problems. There would also be safety problems with the school journey starting and ending in darkness. Some online comments also highlight that they have experience the last trial of changing UK time and found it a daunting and unpleasant experience.
Therefore it seems that there may be no progression to this proposal, which would have generally helped international commerce as it would put the UK on the same time zone as Europe.
