Ex-M&S chief calls for UK time to be put forward

He is campaigning for UK time to be moved forward one hour all year round, in line with the rest of western Europe.

At Tuesday’s (February 26) NFU council meeting, Martin Haworth, NFU acting director-general said the idea was experimented with in the 1960s but the main opposition at the time was from farmers and  Scots, who being the furthest North expressed concerns over their loss of daylight.

Sir Stuart argued the benefits of adopting a time change would be reduced road accidents as it would be lighter in the morning, and increased convenience of travel within western Europe due to being on the same time zones.

NFU council changed their stance on this matter to one of neutrality 10 years ago, as they had no reason to oppose the change. Sir Stuart is now pushing for them to reconsider a positive view on the issue.

Council has now forwarded the matter to individual regions and a decision will be made at a later date. Perhaps the most topical factor concerning this issue is carbon emissions and whether they would be reduced and less energy used if time was moved forward.

Comments from the floor appeared to question the campaign and warned of the threat of darkness in the afternoon leading to more accidents. “I can remember it was always dark in the 1960s,” said one council member.

Have your say

Please do not complete the following form field for security reasons.

Name

E-mail

Comment

Post as

Anonymously

Display name