Saturday, August 14, 2010

Cameron threatens Scotland with darkness

A headline only The Daily Mail could deliver:
"Scots outrage over darker mornings as Cameron backs plan to move clocks forward permanently"
He's even going to deny them their own time-zone, the fiend:
He (Cameron) insisted, however, that there would not be separate time zones north and south of the Border.

16 comments:

Timothy Belmont said...

The sooner it happens, the better! I've listened intently to this idea and apparently the formula for those parts of the Realm which are at the far north is, quite simply, to open and close an hour earlier or later. Viz - schools would open at 10am instead of 9am, should they so wish.

Seems reasonable to me. Personally I'd like BST all the time instead of GMT!

O'Neill said...

Tim,

Reading throught the artcile again, I think it may be simply the Mail trying to find something to write about on a quiet day- Cameron actually says in the piece that it is up to those who want a chnage to make their argument and not the other way round as the headline implied

Frank said...

Greenwich Mean Time and British Summer Time is most appropriate from all Britsh Isles countries as they are West of the 0 degree of Longtitude, save part of Eastern England (the Danelaw side to use the Dark Age term) being due East. Railway Time (started by the Great Western Railway)standardised the time so that there was no local variation, and the country ran like clockwork.

People chiming on in favour of the Central European Time Zone are Wind up Merchants, claiming that trade is the reason.

Alarm bells ring as the Wind Up Merchants are out of kilter with Scotland, but also with the central position the Square Mile as real trade ticks along throughout the World Markets.

tony said...

Oneill

In your blog piece you say in your best tragi-comedy;

"He's even going to deny them their own time-zone, the fiend:"

Then you state above;

"Cameron actually says in the piece that it is up to those who want a chnage to make their argument and not the other way round as the headline implied"

Havin it both ways chum? You also suggested that the Scots were the agents for change *silly buggers etc* also.

On the actual topic. England should do what is best for England within reason.

Anonymous said...

re: "British Isles" countries (which I wish were called Celtic Isles as that's closer to the original meaning, but that's another story).

I thought most of Ireland bar the east coast fell naturally in to a different time zone than GB, but that this was ignored when "time" was set in Ireland in the early 1900s.

Are you fairly certain Frank? Could you post a link, because I would be keen to know?

O'Neill said...

But decisions over clocks are the responsibility of Business Secretary Vince Cable, who has lived in Scotland but represents the London seat of Twickenham.

"You also suggested that the Scots were the agents for change *silly buggers etc* also."

Did I, where?!

As I said to Tim, on reflection, this is merely a bit of silly season on behalf of the Daily mail; key point when it speaks about Vince Cable (who has theultimate responsibility over such issues):

"Insiders believe it is unlikely he will annoy the Scots."

Hence, no story. I still got 5 comments out of it though;)

Anonymous said...

I have checked, and Ireland is mostly in a different natural time zone. The 24 natural time zones run in 15 degree slices (15x24 = 360). Greenwich is in the middle of the GB one. The next time zones start 7.5 degrees either side of Greenwich.

In theory the sun would be at its high point in the sky at 12 noon exactly in the middle of each time zone, but because of Daylight Saving Time, it is moved to 1PM.

Britain took a decision to move one hour from its natural time zone (which is the same as CET). This happy decision left Ireland in its natural time zone for most of Ireland.

Never being in favour of artificial political constructs, I think Cameron should seize the day (or the hour) and move GB to its natural time zone equivalent to CET.

Unknown said...

Except that this is a bigger grievance in England than you think - we want the lighter nights that British Summer Time would give along with the reduced fatalities on the roads. It would save energy, save lives, and better integrate us with our nearest trading partners in Europe.

But once again we have the tail wagging the dog, in this case farmers in the far north and west of Scotland. (It wouldn't make much difference to the Central Belt where most of Scotland's population resides).

tony said...

Oneill

Is this not suggestive that the Scots were the movers and shakers on the issue?

""He's even going to deny them their own time-zone, the fiend:""

I'd suggest it does. Since to deny somebody something usually follows the supplication. Though tabloid speak does tend to use this term ignorantly.

Frank said...

The City of London being at some point in the day accessible to other major World Markets because it is in the GMT an BST Time Zone, the Meridian Line goes via the Poles with the reverse arc of the circumference 360 degrees East or West of Greenwich being the International Date Line for the most part.

The Square Mile is the centre of the British Economy, and places the United Kingdom at the centre of World Trade.

The reality is that people in the British Isles matter most, in terms of communications and economic circumstances, so it is common sense to maintain our time, as opposed to time suitable for foreign countries in Europe.

Railway Standard Time did have variations, but the general idea was to have time and tides standardised. So navigation and tide timetables helped Britannia Rule the Waves.

There was variations in Railway Time such as in Ireland and even Belfast had Belfast Time, which publications and Wikipedia. The logic of Railway Time is seen in Greenwich Mean Time and British Summer Time, given the latitudes of the British Isles in the Northern Hemisphere.

O'Neill said...

"I'd suggest it does. Since to deny somebody something usually follows the supplication"

Making fun of how the Mail over-dramatised what is, it seems now, a non-story?

O'Neill said...

"There was variations in Railway Time such as in Ireland and even Belfast had Belfast Time, which publications and Wikipedia."

Belfast had its own time/zone?!
Seems fitting somehow!

Brock said...

If you want more daylight in the evenings why don't you just change your schedules by an hour instead of messing with the clocks? Shall we switch the calendar back a day or two if global warming moves the start of the planting season forward?

Anonymous said...

I love Frank's comment about foreign countries in Europe, and their time not being suitable for British people.

The UK is due north of France. The UK Govt. took a decision to move its time westwards by one hour. France did not. The notion that France and the UK are in different timezones naturally is delicious. I love British racists. Racism comes so naturaly to them that they don't even see that they are being racist.

Frank said...

Vivè la difference. La accord de la Schengen pour Douanier commun et de Voyage en europe. La Royame Uni est situeé nord de la Manche, aussi sans une accord Schengen. La Repubique de lá France est en membre d'une accord Schengen avec la pays européen. Certainment personnes et habitants de la europe considerer pays extérior a l'accord Schengen étranger. La appellation étranger en français eqivalent de la langue anglais <> ici. Maintennent étranger n'est par raciste. Cette étranger est raciste idée est folie.

Anonymous said...

Google translate really needs to beef up their algorithms. "La accord"? Very english mate. Try "L'accord".

The mysterious case of the missing verbs.