After the Daylight Saving Bill fiasco Parliament needs to be reformed

On Friday 20th January I put aside constituency business aside to stay in Westminster to support the Daylight Saving Bill and the Lighter Later campaign. Lots of constituents strongly lobbied me in support of the Bill and I was pleased to have the chance to vote for it. 

Later daylight would bring many advantages for the economy, tourism and personal fitness, and in the debate I was planning to highlight the road safety gains that it would bring based on information provided by the South Yorkshire Safer Roads Partnership. They estimate that the Bill would save 80 lives each year across the country and prevent hundreds of serious injuries by making the roads safer. 

However, as you'll be aware a handful of right-wing Tories droned on endlessly on a series of 'wrecking amendments', so that Parliament ran out of time and the Bill fell. I threw away my speech on road safety and attacked this small Tory clique for discrediting our democratic process (you can read my comments in the House of Commons Chamber here).

Last week I supported colleagues to press the Government to make more parliamentary time available to discuss the Bill. Disappointingly Sir George Young, Leader of the House, refused to do this. He encouraged MPs to re-introduce the Daylight Saving Bill in the next Parliamentary session (after May) as a Private Members Bill. I'll now be writing to the Chair of the Procedural Committee, and am working with colleagues, to press for the parliamentary rules to be changed. In future a tiny minority of MPs can't be allowed to frustrate the overwhelming will of the House and of the country and talk Bills out. 

I sincerely hope that the Daylight Saving Bill will return to Parliament and I will continue to support it.