by Alex Claridge

aclaridge@thekmgroup.co.uk

BAY MP Roger Gale is backing a campaign to bring in double British Summertime in the UK.
He wants the clocks to go forward two hours instead of just the usual one when they change in the spring – a time known as Churchill Hours when it was used during the Second World War.
Mr Gale spoke in support of adopting the measure at the House of Commons.
He said: “The double summertime embraced by Churchill was good enough to help the war effort then and it is good enough, now, to boost tourism, recreational activities and after-school safety for children.
“All the statistical evidence arising from the only serious experiment conducted reveals that, far from resulting in more accidents, extra evening daylight reduces traffic hazards, injuries and deaths and the benefits to leisure and tourism are uncontested.
“Generally, English people welcome more daylight after work and appear not to resent the corresponding extra darkness in early morning.”
Mr Gale – whose constituency covers the north Kent coast between Herne Bay and Margate plus the surrounding villages – says opposition to the Churchill Hours idea tends to come from north of the border.
He went on: “It is ironic that those most Europhile in other ways have endeavoured to brand the proposals as 'Brussels Time’ or 'German time’ in an attempt to generate hostility.
“If the Scots, who now have their own parliament, wish to live an hour behind the rest of the UK then there is absolutely no reason why they should not do so.
“To those that say you cannot have one time-zone south of Hadrian`s Wall and another one north of it, I point out that America has no difficulty in recognising the different time zones that separate time-border towns that in some states are only yards apart.
“In Kent, just 20 miles from France, we are used to changing our watches as we travel between England and mainland Europe.”