Give Scotland its own time zone says MP

Greg Knight from East Yorkshire told the House of Commons: "Why do we still have to go through this ridiculous ritual of putting our clocks back every autumn, thereby plunging the nation into darkness by mid-afternoon?"

He asked Commons Leader Sir George Young: "Will you give an undertaking that the Government will not seek to talk out a private member's bill on this subject, which is due to come before the House shortly?

"I suspect the only opponents will be a handful of Scots. If that is the case, shouldn't they be told: 'You've got your own parliament, if you don't like it go away and give yourselves your own time zone'."

His remarks came during exchanges on future business.

Sir George said that when the Bill was reached, the Minister involved would "make the Government's position clear at that time and I will inform the minister of your very strong views".

The UK's clocks are currently set to GMT during the winter and GMT-plus-one in summer. The clocks next go back one hour on Sunday October 31.

Traditionally, Scottish MPs have been opposed to changing this system as they fear it would mean even darker mornings, potentially causing more road accidents.