Greens call for end to "British Winter Time"

The Green Party's Lead candidate for Eastern Region for the 2009 European election is calling for a review of the practice of putting the clocks back every October. Currently, the clocks revert from Brtish Summer Time (BST) to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) at the end of October, and do not go back to BST until near the end of March. In a radical move, the Greens are calling for BST to be extended in England and Wales and for Scotland to have its own devolved arrangements should a longer BST period raise problems with mornings becoming too dark north of the border.

The Greens are calling for BST to be extended until at least mid-November and to start again by no later than mid-February in England and Wales.

Cllr. Rupert Read, Lead candidate for the Green Party in the East of England for the 2009 Euro-elections, said:

“If I get elected in 2009, one concrete result that I will try to bring home is a major change to ‘British Winter Time’: the outdated practice of putting the clocks back to Greenwich Mean Time, each October. It is unfortunately an EU rule that keeps our clocks back right through late into springtime: as an MEP, I would work to overturn that rule.

Putting the clocks back for 5 months each year means more lights on for more of people’s waking hours: it therefore creates unnecessary carbon emissions. And it is proven that many people suffer from light- and sunlight- deprivation in winter months: if we stayed with the clocks forward for more of the year, we would make a lot of people’s lives better".

Green Member of the Greater London Assembly, Jenny Jones, a former Deputy Mayor of London, added:

"The whole point of devolution is that what makes sense for Scotland doesn't always make sense for England and Wales. Devolution gives us the advantages of flexibility and being able to legislate according to what makes sense for our different communities."