Daylight Saving Bill

Debate between Ben Gummer and Tobias Ellwood

Friday 3rd December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ellwood]

The right hon. Gentleman’s point is now on the record.

We need to ensure that we do not resort to using coal-fired power stations, and that aim can be achieved through the clock change.

[Ben Gummer]

The right hon. Member for Gordon (Malcolm Bruce) has just raised an important point about capacity, but that is entirely to do with generating capacity—an inheritance from the previous Government, I am afraid—and nothing to do with daylight saving time.

[Mr Ellwood]

I am grateful for that clarification.

A time change would bring huge benefits for business and overseas trade. As part of my work as the shadow Tourism Minister I spent some time in Scotland and it was interesting to meet Scottish business people, who were very keen to have an alignment of timing. Currently, 62% of our exports and 50% of imports are within Europe. When we go to work, the Europeans have already been at work for an hour, we break for lunch at different times so two hours are lost there and then we lose another hour in the evening. Four hours a day are lost because of the failure to align our times.

One might say that that is where the idea of Berlin time came from. Let me say a word about Mr Peter Hitchens.