Scotland may opt out of time trial

SCOTLAND should have its own time zone if it does not want to fall in line with the rest of the UK over permanently moving the clocks forward by one hour, according to a leading Tory MP.

The UK Government insists proposals to put the clock forward to provide lighter evenings all year round would only go ahead with the support of the devolved administrations, but the SNP has already declared its opposition to the move, saying there is “no case” for a change.

However, supporters of a three-year-experiment to provide an extra hour of daylight say that it should not be vetoed by the Scots. Tim Yeo, the Conservative chairman of the Commons energy and climate change committee, said there was “no good reason” why Scotland could not have a different time zone.

“Many other countries have two time zones, there are different time zones all over Europe and there are three in the United States,” said Yeo, who has previously put forward draft legislation on the issue.

“I believe it should be up to the Scottish people and the Scottish Government to decide for themselves on this issue.”

Yeo said that the idea of a time change – being put forward now in a private bill by Essex Tory MP Rebecca Harris – was realistic and that there was now less resistance, even in Scotland, than there was ten or 20 years ago, particularly from the farming industry.

“I know the UK Government is of the opinion that the whole country should have the same time zone and that Scotland could have a veto, but I find that disappointing and I hope they change their minds.”

Any trial would see the UK move in line with the time in most of the rest of Europe – with British Summer Time plus one hour in summer and GMT plus one hour in winter.

If it goes ahead, Britons would still face today’s annual ritual of putting the clocks back an hour and forward again in the spring.

Supporters of the move said an extra daylight hour in the evening would cut road deaths in Scotland, as well as improve quality of life, boost health, increase tourism and cut energy use.

Backers claim even the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the National Farmers Union Scotland are not against such a move.

However, critics claim that parts of Scotland would not see dawn until as late as 9am in the winter and that it would cause a danger for children travelling to school in the dark.

The Department for Business has launched a consultation on the back of Harris’ bill. She said yesterday: “I don’t believe any trial should be imposed on any part of the country that doesn’t want it. It should really be up to the people of Scotland.

“However, I wouldn’t want to see different parts of the UK having different time zones.

“I do not believe separate time zones would be in the national interest.”

NFU Scotland says it is “nervous of the potential impacts” of the UK adopting Central European Time, but insists it is the right time for a full, independent analysis.