Please remember the Clocks go back on sunday.

[JPB]

Even better, leave them at GMT +1 all the time.

A fair plan if you live down South.

[Dave3066]

Even better, leave them at GMT +1 all the time.

A fair plan if you live down South.

Yep, those of us further north like to have the clocks at GMT in winter. If the UK were to remain on BST all year the only country that used GMT would be Portugal. What would that do to the attraction of visiting Greenwich?

Dave

[Martin Evans]

Even down here in the south, I prefer GMT for "Winter" (The bit with longer hours of darkness), as it gives things a bit more chance to warm up first thing (As it is I leave for work in the dark during December and January and after a cold one, it can be rather chilly before the Sun rises). I just think we could go back to BST a few weeks earlier.

[mr rusty]

Personally I really dislike this business of going to GMT- in my ideal world we'd be on double British summertime like they had in the war. I believe we only do it now because of pressure from a few Scottish farmers, who seem to have far more influence in parliament than they should have .........the sooner they vote for independence and have their own time zone the better!

[tractorman]

OK Mr Rusty, your idea may be fine for the south of the country, but I suspect many in the north of England (like me) would want to join Scotland rather than suffer the effect of BST through winter - let alone double summertime!

I remember the stupid experiment to keep BST all year some time ago and it wasn't exactly a hit up here! It isn't just farmers who rely on daylight to work (I wasn't farming at the time!)

However, I do have a very confused dog this morning!

[Martin Evans]

Double Summertime or constant BST wouldn't be a good idea at all, even in the south; not if you have to get up early in the morning. I suspect it makes less difference to farmers, who are governed less by what everyone else is doing (ie 9-5) or where the hands on the clock point and more by what is going on outside.

Returning the point I raised earlier, I suspect going back to BST at the beginning of March wouldn't be a problem in Scotland, given that the hours of daylight would be roughly those of mid October as it stands. As someone who despises nationalism, whether Welsh, Scottish or English, I certainly hope our friends north of the Tweed decide to stick with us.

[JPB]

OK Mr Rusty, your idea may be fine for the south of the country, but I suspect many in the north of England (like me) would want to join Scotland rather than suffer the effect of BST through winter - let alone double summertime!

I remember the stupid experiment to keep BST all year some time ago and it wasn't exactly a hit up here! It isn't just farmers who rely on daylight to work (I wasn't farming at the time!)

However, I do have a very confused dog this morning!

Absolutely. Apart from the bit about the confused dog that is.
I'm in England but am further North than >20% of Scotland's land mass. It must be dark even longer in the morning for you, seeing as you're on the West Coast though you'll probably see an extra half hour or so of light in the afternoon. Not that it ever gets properly light on days when there's cloud cover. I've also been based on the Moray coast with work and how they function with so little light in the winter months is a source of mystery to me. I'd move south. Oh wait, I did!
Not so far south that I lost the midnight daylight at midsummer though.

It's a compromise whichever way you view it and folk in the deep south probably can't grasp what we're on about as they have a fairly even balance of light and darkness that close to the equator. They also have motorways, noise pollution, a higher cost of living and ridiculously expensive property. I don't know what Arceye may have to say about this, him being right on the north coast as he is.

....I certainly hope our friends north of the Tweed decide to stick with us.

Me too, Berwick (at the mouth of the Tweed) is a regular shopping destination for me depending on where I've been working on any given day. It, and a couple of miles North from it, is English soil but yes, our friends West of the Tweed, etc.

[Richard Moss]

Even better, leave them at GMT +1 all the time.

A fair plan if you live down South.

Yep, those of us further north like to have the clocks at GMT in winter. If the UK were to remain on BST all year the only country that used GMT would be Portugal. What would that do to the attraction of visiting Greenwich?

Dave

I think that when I lived in Yorkshire and Troon I got a first hand taste of living in the north! I found the early sunset more depressing and disruptive than a dark morning because it reduces your ability to do "stuff" after work. It's bad enough having to go to work in the dark, but coming home after sunset is even worse - at least staying on BST gives you an extra hour of daylight at the useful end of the day.

As for GMT - don't worry, the aviation and maritime industries (to name but two) would keep it alive.

[Mitsuru]

John there is something else which would happen if Scotland goes
independent! They will under cut the taxes and fund their industries
which will put those just south of the boarder at a serve disadvantage!

If that happened the work and companies producing stuff for export
would most likely go. Thus another march on the capitals in far greater
numbers will happen.

[TerryG]

They won't be able to afford to cut tax for anybody if they split. Have you looked at the subsidy they recieve every year?!?!