SUMMER TIME (Hansard, 3 March 1948)

§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Ede)
I beg to move: That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty in pursuance of the provisions of Section 2 of the Summer Time Act, 1947, praying that the Summer Time Order, 1948, be made in the form of the draft laid before this House on 9th February. This is the first time a Motion has been moved in pursuance of the Act we passed last year which requires that the period of Summer Time shall in future be fixed every year by an Order in Council. The period fixed this year is from 14th March to 31st October—roughly seven and a half months. There will be no period of double Summer Time this year. Last year, at a very early stage in the year, when as a matter of fact the climatic conditions did not make it sensible to talk about either single Summer Time or double Summer Time we arranged, in the Measure we placed before the House at that time, for a period of double Summer Time.
At a subsequent period of the year, with my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Agriculture, I met a deputation of farmers from Scotland who laid before us the very serious difficulties which confronted agriculturalists, particularly North of the Tweed, in carrying on their industry while double summer time was in operation. The Prime Minister gave an assurance last year that we would not fix a period of double Summer Time this year, and this order carries out that undertaking. The period now fixed is one which has the general assent of both sides of industries, other than agriculture. I think it would 491 be too much to say that this order has the enthusiastic support of persons engaged in agriculture in this country.

§ Major Sir Thomas Dugdale (Richmond)
Far too much.

§ Mr. Ede
My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture and the Secretary of State for Scotland have been in touch with the agricultural communities for which they are respectively responsible, and those communities recognise the general difficulties which confront the country and against which this order assists us in some way to take action. I hope that this Measure, carrying as it does general good will, where there is not acquiescence, will find favour with the House. We have endeavoured to minimise the injuries—or perhaps inconvenience is the better word—that we inflict on the agricultural community, and I want to thank them for the very helpful spirit in which they have met us in this matter.

§ Sir T. Dugdale
I accept at once the spirit in which the Home Secretary has moved this order, but I would ask him why is it necessary every year to state the dates by an Order in Council? Would it not be much better to go straight back to the pre-war custom, and have the dates as established by the old 1925 Act? The Home Secretary has explained that this year the period of Summer Time is to be extended from 14th March to 31st October. He explained further that he was well aware of the difficulties which this extension will cause to the agricultural community throughout the country, especially to farmers in the North of England and North of the Tweed. I, on behalf of my right hon. and hon. Friends on this side of the House, would answer him by saying that we equally realise that the arguments on the time that is best suited to Summer Time are very equally balanced; and that we do realise the force of the arguments from the industrial point of view for extending the summer period as is done in the order before the House.
My sole purpose in intervening at this stage is to impress upon the Home Secretary the importance the agricultural industry attaches to this matter, and to 492 express the hope that the statutory limitations on Summer Time, enacted in the 1925 Act, which limited the Summer Time period to the period from the third Sunday in April to the first Sunday in October, should be imposed again at the earliest possible moment. We perfectly understand that there is no question of amending this order now, and that we must either accept it or vote against it. It is certainly not my intention to ask my hon. and right hon. Friends to vote against this order. I hope, however, that the right hon. Gentleman will bear in mind the difficulties which this extended period does make for the agricultural industry. If, for any reason, he is convinced that it is necessary to extend the Summer Time period in future, then I would say, from the agricultural point of view, that it would be very much better if the period were extended at the beginning and not at the end. I would ask the Home Secretary to give his serious consideration in the future to this, that if it is necessary to extend Summer Time beyond the dates prescribed in the 1925 Act, he should limit the period so that it expires on the first Saturday in October, the date at which Summer Time ended according to the original Act passed by this House. That would be better than 31st October as suggested by this order.
The extended period does cause a very great deal of inconvenience. I am grateful to the Home Secretary for expressing his thanks to the farmers and the attitude they have taken in regard to this order, but I would ask him in future years to return to the dates of the 1925 Act. We do not want to have these orders year by year to fix the dates. Why should we have these orders? Is it because the Government like issuing orders to be passed through this House for their amusement, or for any other purpose? If we could have the original provisions of the old Act, it would be much better for the agricultural industry in all parts of the country, especially in the North of England and North of the Tweed.

§ Mr. Ede
Perhaps I might intervene here, with the leave of the House. I thank the hon. and gallant Gentleman for what he has said, but I would point out that the 1925 Act was repealed last year, and it would involve introducing a new 493 Act to bring it back into existence. Without making any promises with regard to next year, I am not unhopeful that, when the period of economic stress in the heavy industries has passed, we may be able to return to orders which would conform approximately to the dates in the 1925 Act. I think everybody regards those as stating approximately the appropriate period of Summer Time in times which can be called normal. I should not like it to be thought that the promotion of this order this year is an indication that this is regarded as the more or less permanent period for Summer Time in future years. Each year will have to be judged on its merits. As, of course, the matter has to be brought before the House by this positive procedure, the House can be assured that each year it will have an opportunity of expressing its views on the matter.

§ Mr. James Hudson (Ealing, West)
The not very crowded state of the benches, particularly in regard to hon. Members for agricultural constituencies in Scotland and England, leaves some room for an expression of disappointment. It appears that in this order we have dropped permanently the Double Summer Time proposal which has operated hitherto. As Double Summer Time was referred to by the Home Secretary when introducing the order, I would say that there are many people in constituencies other than agricultural constituencies who will consider themselves at a very great disadvantage because of the loss involved under this order. The Government might perhaps have given some further consideration——

§ Mr. Deputy-Speaker (Mr. Hubert Beaumont)
I have allowed the hon. Member considerable latitude in letting him go so far. There is nothing about Double Summer Time in this order, so he cannot discuss it further.

§ Mr. Hudson
I am referring only to what was said by the Home Secretary when he recited the fact that under this order Double Summer Time would disappear. I will not dwell further on that, but I do not think the order will commend itself to southern constituencies, such as those around London, which derive great advantage from procedure other than that adopted in this order——

§ Mr. Deputy-Speaker
The hon. Member cannot get round my Ruling in that way. There is nothing about Double Summer Time in the order, and the hon. Member is out of Order in discussing it or referring to it.

§ Mr. Hudson
I am sorry that I cannot refer to it further, and I will let it go at that. As it stands, the order is unsatisfactory. If elaboration of the reasons I have given are out of Order in this Debate, I think that in the circumstances we might at any rate have had a further extension of single Summer Time——

§ Mr. Deputy-Speaker
The hon. Member is very ingenious, but if he pursues that line I shall have to ask him to resume his seat.

§ Mr. Hudson
I should not think of contesting your Ruling, Sir. If in debating this order, which has to do with the extension of Summer Time between two stated periods, I cannot refer to the fact that this is by no means a perfect order, and if I cannot say why it is not perfect, I bow respectfully and entirely to your Ruling, and have no alternative but to let it go at that. I do think that hon. Members for agricultural constituencies might have shown their complete acceptance of the change with an appearance of greater enthusiasm by their presence on these benches in larger numbers tonight.

§ Captain Crookshank (Gainsborough)
I cannot let the hon. Member for West Ealing (Mr. J. Hudson) make remarks of that kind. The point of view of the agricultural community has been put on behalf of those who sit on these benches by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Richmond (Sir T. Dugdale). I do not know whose point of view the hon. Member was putting, but he certainly failed to do it.

§ Mr. Keenan (Liverpool, Kirkdale)
I think there is something to be said for the argument on the other side. I am one of those who has never liked Summer Time. I think we should have Greenwich Time, and that we should leave it at that. I hope that when the opportunity comes, it will not be necessary to have Summer Time at all. I do not see any 495 advantage in it, and I should like to see it stopped. I cannot agree with what has been said by my hon. Friend the Member for West Ealing (Mr. J. Hudson), because I do not think that Summer Time is worth having at any time.