§ Mr. Worsleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will announce the dates proposed for Summer Time in 1965.
§ Mr. BrookeYes. I propose that the limited extensions of the statutory period of Summer Time introduced in 1961 should continue. This year, to avoid starting on Easter Day, Summer Time began a week earlier than has been usual, making a total extension of seven weeks, four in the spring and three in the autumn. This longer extension appeared to be popular, and I propose that the extension next year should likewise be seven weeks.
Suggestions have been made that it would be more satisfactory to all if the period of Summer Time were fixed not year by year, but for some years ahead. I think there is substance in this proposal, and accordingly I will shortly lay before Parliament a draft Order in Council providing that Summer Time shall run from 21st March to 24th October in 1965, from 20th March to 23rd October in 1966 and from 19th March to 29th October in 1967. I should perhaps make clear that if public opinion towards Summer Time should alter between now and 1967, it would be practicable to modify this Order in Council at any time by means of a new Order in Council.