Yorkshire MP seeks end to 'ridiculous ritual' of putting clocks back in autumn

Speaking in the House of Commons, Sir Greg Knight, a former minister and the MP for East Yorkshire said: “Can we have a Government review followed by a statement into the desirability of ending this ridiculous ritual of putting our clocks back every autumn, thereby plunging the nation into darkness and misery by mid-afternoon for a period of several months?

“Is there not a good case for keeping summer time in winter? It would cut the number of road accidents, cut energy use and boost tourism?”

But Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg questioned the need to make any change.

“As we all know, time is unified across the United Kingdom with the coming of the railways, otherwise my own county of Somerset would be 10 minutes behind London. And this was the way of doing things, of having midday when the sun is at its highest point, which always seemed to me to be quite a sensible principle.

“I think if we were to change, as we did before in the late 60s, we would find that we simply change back again, because you can’t make the days any longer in the winter… they simply get dark and they are either dark in the morning or dark in the early afternoon, and whichever way it is, people will want it the other way round.”