By Glen Owen
Last updated at 11:20 AM on 30th October 2011
Not after the dark: David Cameron has driven a stake though the idea of Berlin Time
The Coalition was last night in disarray over a plot to move our clocks to ‘Berlin Time’ after David Cameron slapped down Cabinet colleague Vince Cable.
The Prime Minister made his feelings clear after Mr Cable’s Business Department announced that it was considering giving support to a Bill that would force us to join German citizens in living an hour ahead of GMT in winter and two hours ahead in summer.
An immediate rebuke was issued by No 10, declaring that, as Scotland would never accept the darker winter mornings, the plan was dead in the water.
Critics say additional morning darkness is associated with an increase in road deaths and, if the change were made, much of the UK would still be dark when many parents do the school run.
'It will never be accepted up there,' the Downing Street source said. ‘And we wouldn’t let it happen without the entire UK being in agreement.
So it’s not going to happen. Simple as that.’
However, last night a defiant Vince Cable refused to accept the strong hint to drop the idea. He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We see merit in the Bill. But we have to proceed carefully and we have to build consensus in all the different parts of the UK.’
The row, which erupted on the eve of the clocks going back at 2am today, has stoked anger among Eurosceptic Conservatives.
Berlin Time has been promoted by supporters of the European Union’s efforts to harmonise members’ time zones, leading Tory opponents of the plan to claim that the attempt to revive the idea was being driven by pro-EU Liberal Democrats in the Government and was being tolerated by No 10 as a concession to Nick Clegg.
‘It smacks of yet another Coalition compromise,’ said one ministerial critic. ‘I don’t think it is a coincidence that the Business Department is top-heavy with Lib Dems.
‘And it is the sort of thing that Clegg would like.’
One Government source even claimed that the idea had ‘the fingerprints’ of Mr Cameron’s chief of staff, Ed Llewellyn, 'all over it' as a 'sop to
the Cleggites'.
Debate: How The Mail On Sunday has campaigned against the time change
Mr Llewellyn, who used to work for former Tory EU Commissioner Chris Patten and pro-European� ex-Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown, is the prime suspect because of his friendly relations with his Lib Dem counterparts.
But a friend of Mr Llewellyn insisted last night: ‘He has had no involvement in this at all. He doesn’t think he has even expressed an opinion on it.’
Aides to Mr Clegg also say that he has not discussed the issue with the Prime Minister.
The Daylight Saving Bill, sponsored by Tory MP Rebecca Harris, appeared to have been extinguished earlier this year when Lib Dem Business Minister Ed Davey said there were no convincing arguments to give it the ministerial support and parliamentary time it would need to become law.
However, on Friday Mr Davey appeared to make a U-turn when he said Mr Cable’s department was considering a ‘review of the potential costs and benefits of advancing the clocks by one hour’, and even a three year trial.
‘It is only right that we at least look at what the potential economic and social benefits of any change might be,’ Mr Davey said.
‘Lower road deaths, reduced carbon dioxide emissions and improved health have all been argued over the years as possible benefits.
‘If there is strong evidence to support this, we should at least see what the possible benefits are.’
Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has jokingly dubbed the plan the ‘vampire Bill’ because of its ability to come back to life when the nights draw in.
Speaking at the Commonwealth summit in Australia, Mr Cameron said: ‘I’ve always been interested in this debate, as someone who likes sport and the rest of it.
‘But I’ve always felt you could only do this as a United Kingdom, and there have always been very strong arguments made in Scotland.’
Privately, the Prime Minister says that the change will not be introduced, whatever the outcome of a review.
Yesterday, Scotland’s SNP administration appeared to drive a final stake through the heart of the plan when it said there was ‘no case for a change to existing arrangements’.
The SNP’s Angus MacNeil said:’Fixing the clocks to British Summer Time would . . . have massive implications for the safety and wellbeing of everyone living north of Manchester.
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