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Lighter Evenings (Experiment) Bill [HL]

I think this was the first time it had been mentioned in the other place by a Minister; that is what I was told. The RAC Foundation has set out, after much consideration, a letter to me in support of this Bill. The AA Trust has sent a similar letter, also in support. The Local Authority Road Safety Officers’ Association, the Institute of Road Safety Officers, GEM Motoring Assist—formerly the Guild of Experienced Motorists—and the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety all support this Bill for the simple reason that it saves lives. This was one of the primary points. The noble Lord, Lord Jopling, mentioned his former constituents and said that they were absolutely adamant against the Bill. How is that schools such as Burton Morewood School, Jericho Primary School in Whitehaven, the Cumbrian Education Authority, and Gillside Primary Training School wrote me unsolicited letters fully supporting this Bill, saying that the children would really benefit from taking some exercise after school? This also confirms the report by Mayer Hillman, the senior fellow from the Policy Studies Institute, who made the same point. Listening to people here today it appears that absolutely nobody is in support of this Bill. I think they are completely wrong. I can have my views, but the point of my Bill is to create an experiment where the ideas, the statistics and so on that have been put forward in this House can be proved right or wrong. I have taken a neutral position on this issue; the only position I have taken is the need for a new experiment. The Mayor of London has also written to say that sport, leisure and tourism would benefit from the Bill. On farmers, the noble Lord, Lord Jopling, says he was the Minister of Agriculture—I am sure a good one at that time—but no farmer worth his salt wears his watch to work. The development officers of the Crofting Commission in the north of Scotland, to take the view of the noble Lady, Lady Saltoun, are in favour of this Bill. They see clock time as having no relation to farmers’ time. Anyone who pretends to be a farmer and says that clock time is important to farming is not a good farmer in my view. He is not a farmer at all. I have had an extraordinary number of letters regarding seasonal affective disorder, known as SAD. A huge number of people suffer from SAD—3 million, according to the association. It has expressed interest in and support for my Bill. We have just had a debate on energy. Yet how is it that no one has mentioned the American or the New Zealand experience, of switching to daylight-saving time? In New Zealand, there is a saving of 3.5 per cent of the total energy. The US Department of Transportation says daylight saving trims the entire country’s electricity usage by 1 per cent per day. The Government are about to produce an energy review. Will daylight saving come into this as part of it? I sincerely hope so, and I hope that it has been thought out. The timing put forward in the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Jopling, is already covered. The devolved governments and assemblies can choose the time when to start the experiment or to opt out of it. Whatever people say, I do not think it would be the end of the world if the Scottish Nationalists took over the Scottish Parliament and decided to have a time of their own. I do not see it as a big problem. People cross from Spain into Portugal without any problems with the time. It does not affect the economy or tourism. Millions of people—1.5 million a year—cross these borders. Why should it be a problem here? Everyone changes their watches when they go on holiday. Are noble Lords saying that that is difficult or impossible? In fact, if my Bill becomes law, they will not have to change their watches when they go to the Continent . I cannot accept the noble Lord’s amendment and I leave it there.