Letters: Time check

I am afraid Joyce McMillan is completely in the dark in referring to "daylight saving" as the "annual ritual" whereby "we gain an extra hour of daylight in the mornings and lose an hour in the late afternoon" (Comment, 29 October). Actually, "daylight saving" is the name for the process in spring when the clocks are put forward an hour to gain more light in the evening, at the expense of mornings.

Moving on from this clanger, Ms McMillan tries to state the case in favour of retaining British Summer Time (BST) all the year round, although she never actually refers to the term. I could just as easily provide at least as many counter arguments against it.

Setting aside the Scottish situation, Portugal adopted all-year summer time in the 1990s but then returned to the status quo for a number of reasons. Among other drawbacks, it became apparent that an extra hour of daylight in the evening meant children stayed up later, leading to tiredness and lack of attention at school the next day. Aren't Scottish school kids late enough out of their beds already?

GMT is "true time" and there is something unnatural about interfering with it; indeed there could be an argument for reverting to GMT throughout the year - a situation that existed for centuries before "summer time" was introduced as a "temporary measure" during the First World War.

Finally, if Joyce McMillan and others want an extra hour of daylight in the evenings, there is a simple remedy: start and finish work an hour earlier. Bus and rail companies often have separate winter and summer timetables and there is no reason why this could not be extended to other parts of industry and commerce, where appropriate.

K Houston

The Paddockholm

Edinburgh

How does Joyce McMillan know people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder are better able to cope with darkness in the morning rather than mid-afternoon? I am no nationalist but agree with Angus McNeil, remembering well the experiment 40 years ago when in mid-winter it was not light till 10am.

Even if daylight saving was abolished, it would still be dark by 5pm during the middle of winter, with most people going to and leaving work in darkness.

Surely lighter mornings are an incentive for us all to get up and go.

Gillian Henderson

Elliot Road

Edinburgh