Motion to abolish daylight savings

The Issue

Daylight Savings Time (DST) is an archaic out moded outdated law first proposed back in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson adopted by Germany in 1916 during WW1 until 1919 and then again in WW2 as part of a dictarship move where invaded countries were forced to adopt 'Hitler Time'. DST was implimented in Britain on 21 May 1916 as a War Time Energy saving measure that is no longer relevant nor useful in modern day society.

A Brief History:

World War I

Daylight saving time (DST) was used in some countries, such as Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom, during World War I, with 1916 being the first year in that period. However, most European nations gave up DST after 1919. There were mixed feelings on DST in France, where the rural population got rid of DST by 1920 but Paris and other major cities still favored DST. In 1923 the French Cabinet decided that the time would remain the same, but work hours would start and stop half an hour earlier between April 28 and November 3.

World War II

During World War II, Hitler’s commanders imposed German time as they moved through Europe but it did not always work. Denmark was one of the countries that adopted DST during the war and planned to end it in mid-August in 1940. The French resisted DST at the start of the war but they failed to resist the German army, which meant that they were officially on “Hitler time” by 1941. There were some French patriots who stuck to the old French time, two hours behind the Berlin-based DST.

After World War II

DST was also implemented in the aftermath of World War II mainly to help people conserve fuel for national recovery and rebuilding programs. Berlin, in Germany, was divided into four occupation zones after the war and until 1948, the French, British, American and Soviet occupiers imposed DST on residents in the city.

However, many European countries later abandoned daylight saving time, as DST became a reminder of the war itself and the humiliation of foreign occupation. Both the Italians and the French repealed DST after clearing up the debris of German occupation. In fact, the French refused to adopt DST until the worldwide oil shortage during the 1970s. Daylight saving time was instituted in France in 1975 following the oil shock of 1974 with the aim to make savings by reducing lighting needs. This is mainly to better match the operating hours with daylight hours to limit the use of artificial lighting.

1980s Onwards

By the early 1980s, many countries of the European Union were using daylight saving time, but they had different practices, thus impeding transport schedules and communications within the continent. In 1996 the European Union (EU) standardized an EU-wide daylight saving time for consistency to apply across the EU. Most European countries that are EU-affiliated follow the EU rules or directives. The EU daylight saving schedule runs from the last Sunday of March through the last Sunday of October.

In 2000, an EU directive was issued on daylight saving arrangements. In the directive, it was mentioned that summer-time arrangements maintained for the past 20 years would be renewed for an unspecified period. It also noted that the last Sundays of March and October were to be the dates definitively adopted for the daylight saving schedule among EU countries.

Most countries in Europe now follow a synchronized daylight saving time that lasts from the last Sunday of March until the last Sunday of October each year.

Health

DST has mixed effects on health. Many British subjects are unable to produce enough Vitimin D necessary for psychological well being, mental health, and regular sleep patterns, more commonly known as Season Adjustment Sidorder (SAD), due to the lack of daylight necesary to maintain balanced health, a condition exasperated by DST.

In societies with fixed work schedules it provides more afternoon sunlight for outdoor exercise.It alters sunlight exposure; whether this is beneficial depends on one's location and daily schedule, as sunlight triggers vitamin D synthesis in the skin, but overexposure can lead to skin cancer however this is not a problem for the British Autumn and winter months.

DST has been falsely suggested that it may help in depression by causing individuals to rise earlier, however the reality is that individulas with depression are seldom early risers and DST in some cases hinders rising at all and so some argue that the reverse is true.

Clock shifts disrupt sleep and reduce its efficiency. Effects on seasonal adaptation of the circadian rhythm can be severe and last for weeks. DST clock shifts complicate timekeeping, can disrupt meetings, travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Software can often adjust computer clocks automatically, but this can be limited and error-prone, particularly when DST dates are changed.

The government of Kazakhstan cited health complications due to clock shifts as a reason for abolishing DST in 2005.

Daylight saving has caused controversy since it began. Pundits have dubbed it "Daylight Slaving Time". Historically, agricultural and evening entertainment interests have opposed it, and its initial adoption had been prompted by energy crisis and war.

The fate of Willett's 1907 proposal was strongly opposed by Prime Minister Asquith, Christie (the Astronomer Royal), George Darwin, Napier Shaw (director of the Meteorological Office), many agricultural organizations, and theater owners. After many hearings the proposal was narrowly defeated in a Parliament committee vote in 1909. Willett's allies introduced similar bills every year from 1911 through 1914, to no avail. The US was even more skeptical: Andrew Peters introduced a DST bill to the US House of Representatives in May 1909, but it soon died in committee.

After Germany led the way with starting DST (German: Sommerzeit) during World War I on 30 April 1916 together with its allies to alleviate hardships from wartime coal shortages and air raid blackouts, the political equation changed in other countries; the United Kingdom used DST first on 21 May 1916. US retailing and manufacturing interests led by Pittsburgh industrialist Robert Garland soon began lobbying for DST, but were opposed by railroads. The US's 1917 entry to the war overcame objections, and DST was established in 1918.

The war's end swung the pendulum back. Farmers continued to dislike DST, and many countries repealed it after the war. Britain was an exception: it retained DST nationwide but over the years adjusted transition dates for several reasons, including special rules during the 1920s and 1930s to avoid clock shifts on Easter mornings.

The US was more typical: Congress repealed DST after 1919. President Woodrow Wilson, like Willett an avid golfer, vetoed the repeal twice but his second veto was overridden.

Only a few US cities retained DST locally thereafter, including New York so that its financial exchanges could maintain an hour of arbitrage trading with London, and Chicago and Cleveland to keep pace with New York.

Wilson's successor Warren G. Harding opposed DST as a "deception". Reasoning that people should instead get up and go to work earlier in the summer, he ordered District of Columbia federal employees to start work at 08:00 rather than 09:00 during summer 1922. Some businesses followed suit though many others did not; the experiment was not repeated.

Since Germany's adoption in 1916 the world has seen many enactments, adjustments, and repeals of DST, with similar politics involved. The history of time in the United States includes DST during both world wars, but no standardization of peacetime DST until 1966. In May 1965, for two weeks, St. Paul and Minneapolis were on different times, when the capital city decided to join most of the nation by starting Daylight Saving Time while Minneapolis opted to follow the later date set by state law.

In the mid-1980s, Clorox (parent of Kingsford Charcoal) and 7-Eleven provided the primary funding for the Daylight Saving Time Coalition behind the 1987 extension to US DST, and both Idaho senators voted for it based on the premise that during DST fast-food restaurants sell more French fries, which are made from Idaho potatoes.

In 1992 after a three-year trial of daylight saving in Queensland, Australia, a referendum on daylight saving was held and defeated with a 54.5% 'no' vote – with regional and rural areas strongly opposed, while those in the metropolitan south-east were in favor.

In 2005, the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association and the National Association of Convenience Stores successfully lobbied for the 2007 extension to US DST.

In December 2008, the Daylight Saving for South East Queensland (DS4SEQ) political party was officially registered in Queensland, advocating the implementation of a dual-time zone arrangement for Daylight Saving in South East Queensland while the rest of the state maintains standard time.

DS4SEQ contested the March 2009 Queensland State election with 32 candidates and received one percent of the state-wide primary vote, equating to around 2.5% across the 32 electorates contested.

After a three-year trial, more than 55% of Western Australians voted against DST in 2009, with rural areas strongly opposed.

On 14 April 2010, after being approached by the DS4SEQ political party, Queensland Independent member Peter Wellington, introduced the Daylight Saving for South East Queensland Referendum Bill 2010 into Queensland Parliament, calling for a referendum to be held at the next State election on the introduction of daylight saving into South East Queensland under a dual-time zone arrangement.The Bill was defeated in Queensland Parliament on 15 June 2011.

In some Muslim countries DST is temporarily abandoned during Ramadan (the month when no food should be eaten between sunrise and sunset), since the DST would delay the evening dinner. Ramadan took place in July and August in 2012. This concerns at least Morocco and Palestine, although Iran keeps DST during Ramadan. Most Muslim countries do not use DST, partially for this reason.

In the UK SDST is opposed by postal workers and farmers, and particularly by those living in the northern regions of the UK.

Farms in the north of England and Scotland have been fully automated since the 70's.

The nation of Britain and indeed many countries around the world who are still subject to DST enforcement dating back to World War 1, feels that temporary war time measures are nolonger necessary and have not been necessary for some considerable time and this archaic custom can nolonger be tolerated.

The people of Britain wish to exert their right to return to Nature's natural rhythms of day and night, wihtout being subject to the control of corporate profit and gain, and that this may serve to reconnect people with a sense of the natural world and remind individuals that they are in fact servants of nature, and not the other way around, inspiring more respect for the care and consideration of the planet, for longterm sustainability, therefore I propose the motion to abolish DST, as it is clearly tipped in favour of the government, retail and corporation profit and not for the well being of the people.

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More Reading here:

M. Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time,

D. Howse, author of Greenwich Time and the Longitude

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