We’re a week in to GMT and winter is on it’s way. This has happened enough over the years for me to get used to. One thing that I’m not sure about is that it seems to be darker earlier than it used to be when I was younger. I have no proof of this, but I’m definitely sure. Driving home yesterday, there was easily enough of the setting sun for another half an hour of proper daylight. Today we have blue skies, so let’s hope that the dark comes when it should, and not before.

The other thing about the clocks going back is whether we should just stay on one time zone all year. I like that idea. The problem comes with selecting to stay on GMT or GMT+1 (aka British Summer time, aka BST). And given the choice, I’d go for BST any time. That makes sense, right? A friend at work was convincing me that GMT was better. Perhaps, convincing me is the wrong word and confusing me is a better explanation. Sales people could sell me Summertime all of the time. But that’s what sale and advertising does. It’s sells something we don’t need, for more than we would normally pay, and possibly with a cost to ourselves. And for that, we are grateful and ahead of the game.

When we do make the change to keep to one time-zone it will be 50-50 whether we make the right choice. Lobbyists will have their interest, and throw money in to the argument. In the UK, the clocks go back an hour so that the north of Scotland sees daylight before 1130 in the winter. For the rest of the county, it is earlier in the morning, and the argument is that there will be fewer road accidents, which will save lives.

These arguments need to pass the “so what” test. So what?

We have better street lights, better lights on our cycles and cars now. And what is more dangerous in the morning than the evening drive home? I’ll take a quick stab at that and say that there is less alcohol in the blood of drivers on the way home than in the morning.

I don’t have any figures as to whether moving the clocks back to GMT saves lives. This isn’t a place where I look up facts. But let’s say it is better in the mornings – which it is – what about the extra daylight we lose in the Summer? Its going to get lighter and warmer in the summer anyway. There’s no real point in having sunlight until 2200 or almost all day in the north of Scotland.

That’s it. GMT is best. Can we leave the clocks alone please?