Daylight Savings Bill fails at third reading

Paul Dancey on 23/01/2012

The Daylight Savings Bill has failed at its third reading in the House of Commons.

The problem wasn’t a lack of support. Even with over 120 supportive MPs in the Commons, the support of 90 national organisations, the UK government and strong public opinion polls, a hand full of hostile MPs were able to run down the clock with a series of "wrecking amendments" and other tactics designed to waste time, so the bill never actually made it to a vote.

If passed, the Bill would have required the Government to examine the case for moving the clocks forward an hour all year round and, if it found the case were proved, to conduct a clock change trial.

The change would have been of great benefit to sport and recreation, aligning our waking hours with the sunlit hours, and providing an extra hour in the afternoons and evenings, when most people are physically active. It would also have led to reduced demand on floodlights, and facilities with floodlights, and made journeys to and from sport and recreation activities safer.

The news is a bitter blow to those involved in the 10:10 Lighter later campaign, including the Sport and Recreation Alliance, and organisations representing tourism, road safety, communities, business and health.

For further information about the campaign, and reaction to some of the tactics used by a hand full of MPs to defeat this widely supported Bill, please visit the Lighter Later web site.

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