REGARDING News Shopper's Double Daylight Saving campaining, we feel readers may be rather confused by some of your correspondents who are suggesting a different time change from the one proposed in your paper.

Under single/double summer time, clocks might not be changed on the first occasion but would still need to be changed twice a year. Everyone in Europe and in much of the world change their clocks twice a year.

You refer to Scotland and Northern Ireland retaining the present arrangements, which for many reasons would be impractical.

If Scotland were included in the scheme, sunrise in Glasgow in December would be at 9.50am. Even if Scotland opted out, sunrise in London in December would be as late as 9.04am and later in Wales and the North of England (for example, not until 9.24am in Newcastle).

We remember very well the dark winter mornings during the 1968-1971 experiment and how depressing it was to go to work in the dark for months on end.

Opinion polls at the time showed the experiment was deeply unpopular, not only in Scotland but throughout the UK.

It was for this reason Parliament voted against it by 366 votes to 88 and you only have to read the Hansard report of the debate (December 2, 1970) to see how hated it was by most people.

ED AND ANNE MARTIN
St David's Close
West Wickham