by Juliet Davenport

In March this year Russian President Dmitry Medvedev decided the country would stay in summertime all year round. So, while Monday morning saw (almost) the entire population of Europe bounce out of bed an hour later (and lighter) than usual, Russians rose in the dark. Monday evening, meanwhile, saw (almost) the entire population of Europe come home to dreary darkness, while Russians enjoyed an extra hour of daylight.

Medvedev said Russians were fed up with the time changes because they caused “stress and illnesses” and “upset the human biorhythm”. And Arkady Tishkov, a member of the working group that advised stopping the time change, said it caused a multitude of problems including a 50% increase in heart attacks, a 66% increase in suicides, disruption of sleep patterns, aggravation of chronic diseases and increased traffic accidents.

Now, I don’t agree with much of what Dmitry Medvedev says, but when it comes to clocks, I’m on his time. Lighter Later have been campaigning for a similar change in the UK for a while now, highlighting a whole host of benefits.

More natural light during the day would reduce the need for polluting electric lights, which would cut at least 447,000 tonnes of CO2 pollution – the equivalent to more than 50,000 cars driving all the way around the world – each year. It would also lower electricity bills and reduce peak power demand.

But there are also social benefits. The move could save 100 lives each year and prevent hundreds of serious injuries by making the roads safer. This in turn would save the NHS around £138 million a year through reducing road casualties. It would also reduce crime and the fear of crime, help make people healthier and tackle obesity by giving people more time to exercise and play sport outside in the evening, improve quality of life for older people, and create 60-80,000 new jobs in leisure and tourism, bringing an extra £2.5 - £3.5 billion into the economy each year.

Lighter Later’s Daylight Saving Bill hasn’t been passed in Parliament yet but last Friday (October 28th) the Government put out a statement saying they will back the Daylight Saving Bill as long as it’s tweaked to give the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the final say. Great news! Keep updated on the movement and signal your support on the Lighter Later website. And if you’re really keen, you could always join me and Medvedev in the ‘Hour Ahead Club’ – those dark mornings are tough but heading home in the daylight definitely makes up for it. Not to mention the solitary hour I’ve secured in the office every morning!