Year-round British summer time would not lower energy bills | Letters

Dr David Harper says keeping BST in winter would mean using more electricity in the mornings, and Guy Ottewell suggests changing business opening times instead

Prof Aoife Foley says that by keeping British summer time all year round, less heating and lighting would be needed (Save energy by not turning clocks back in October, says expert, 19 October). Alas, the amount of daylight is not changed by tinkering with the clocks.

Most of England and Wales get only eight hours of daylight in December and January, while Scotland gets barely seven hours. If BST was kept during these months, the sun wouldn't rise until almost 10am in Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland. Homes, schools and businesses would need to keep their lights on until mid-morning. We have already tried the year-round BST experiment - 50 years ago. It was abandoned after three years.
Dr David Harper
Bar Hill, Cambridgeshire