Time, Gentlemen, Please?

Local time is a somewhat arbitrary concept. In the UK, we mostly operate under Greenwich Mean Time. This is except in the Summer, when 'British' clocks go forward by one hour. John Lee is a SDL peer and the President of Leading Visitor Attractions. He has been pressing UK ministers again, to move 'British' clocks to Central European Time (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/apr/17/double-summer-time-minister-urged-put-uk-clocks-forward-ease-cost-of-living-crisis-john-lee). Central European Time is used in France, Italy and Spain. Changing would mean moving British Summer Time forward by an extra hour. Lee was involved in a (failed) UK 2010 campaign to make such a move. Then, it was argued, adopting Central European Time would be good for the UK Tourist Industry. Attractions would be available to visiting tourists for more of the year. The campaign was largely scuppered by Scottish farmers, who were concerned about doing part of their working day in the dark. The move was rejected, in spite of a 1993 finding by Policy Studies that the change would save circa £260 per household per year in electricity bills. Lee notes that UK inflation is at its highest for some 30 years (I remember those earlier times well!). Part of this current inflation is, of course, caused by soaring energy bills. Lee argues that, adopting European Central Time, in the UK, would mean that citizens wouldn't have to use lighting so much. Household savings would be consequently be very substantial and might even bring down inflation. It's worth also pointing out that reducing energy use, would help counter the UK's 'greenhouse gas' emissions. Perhaps, making greater use of daylight hours, in more areas of the globe, would be an intelligent move? One must admit, however, that Brexiters are unlikely to be keen to move to Central European Time!