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From the article: 1) 193 weeks (18 Feb 1968 - 31 Oct 1971) In 1968 Harold Wilson's government decreed that Britain would shift to permament GMT+1 by not switc

From the article: 1) 193 weeks (18 Feb 1968 - 31 Oct 1971) In 1968 Harold Wilson's government decreed that Britain would shift to permament GMT+1 by not switching the clocks back an hour in October. Technically this was British Standard Time, not British Summer Time, as there was no intention to return to seasonal time adjustments. This change increased evening daylight throughout the winter months (which was popular) but also delayed sunrise (which was not, especially in Scotland). Statistics showed that road accidents decreased in the evening more than they increased in the morning, which was good, but this couldn't be pinned down solely to the time change. Ultimately permanent BST proved unpopular enough that Parliament voted to end it by 366 votes to 81, a fairly convincing rebuttal, and the annual switcheroo has continued ever since.

lozenge 4y ago
Not long ago? Everybody who was studying at the time is now working age, anybody who was working age is now retired...
aidos 4y ago
That’s the opposite.
- matthewmacleod 4y ago
  The thing people object to about daylight savings time is the act of changing the clocks - not the new times themselves. You’re correct that the country remained in UTC+1, but it would be difficult to describe that as “daylight savings time” if the clocks stop changing.
  - Retric 4y ago
    Changing sleep cycles is more of a pain than clocks, it’s automatic in the vast majority of devices. I’ve not even realized the switch happened a few times because my alarm and everything else changed automatically. If you’re still changing wall clocks manually there is a much better option: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_clock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_clock
  - aidos 4y ago
    Maybe most people object to that, but personally I like to have daylight hours first thing in the morning to pop out for a run to start the day. There’s a weird bit in October where you lose the ability to do that because of BST. I was genuinely curious as to when the Uk last didn’t have BST. I believe the the answer might be a very long time ago, in conflict with the original assertion I was replying to. If people pick through my responses here it’s very strange that I’m being downvoted. I suspect maybe a few people have forgotten to follow the HN rule of trying to read charitably.
    - ghaff 4y ago
      It's a mix. There's definitely a camp of pick a time zone--any time zone--but don't change it over the course of the year. And then there's a camp that doesn't want winter (in higher latitudes) to involve getting up and about in pitch blackness for "normal" schedules but also likes long summer evenings rather than sunrise at 5am.
    - soneil 4y ago
      The UK last spent a whole year on GMT in 1915.

lozenge 4y ago

Not long ago? Everybody who was studying at the time is now working age, anybody who was working age is now retired...

aidos 4y ago

That’s the opposite.

matthewmacleod 4y ago
The thing people object to about daylight savings time is the act of changing the clocks - not the new times themselves. You’re correct that the country remained in UTC+1, but it would be difficult to describe that as “daylight savings time” if the clocks stop changing.
- Retric 4y ago
  Changing sleep cycles is more of a pain than clocks, it’s automatic in the vast majority of devices. I’ve not even realized the switch happened a few times because my alarm and everything else changed automatically. If you’re still changing wall clocks manually there is a much better option: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_clock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_clock
- aidos 4y ago
  Maybe most people object to that, but personally I like to have daylight hours first thing in the morning to pop out for a run to start the day. There’s a weird bit in October where you lose the ability to do that because of BST. I was genuinely curious as to when the Uk last didn’t have BST. I believe the the answer might be a very long time ago, in conflict with the original assertion I was replying to. If people pick through my responses here it’s very strange that I’m being downvoted. I suspect maybe a few people have forgotten to follow the HN rule of trying to read charitably.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    It's a mix. There's definitely a camp of pick a time zone--any time zone--but don't change it over the course of the year. And then there's a camp that doesn't want winter (in higher latitudes) to involve getting up and about in pitch blackness for "normal" schedules but also likes long summer evenings rather than sunrise at 5am.
  - soneil 4y ago
    The UK last spent a whole year on GMT in 1915.