CET coming back onto the agenda

[Jason the Maverick]

"A Guernsey Deputy hopes the Channel Islands will soon switch to Central European Time.

Guernsey's parliament has voted to consider the change.

It would mean the clocks going forward an hour, putting Guernsey in the same time zone as France.

Politicians voted in favour of a requete to carry out a study, but some are concerned about the implications of going it alone.

Deputy Peter Roffey believes it would be a good move for both Guernsey and Jersey".

I know this was in the news a few months ago and there has already been a lot of discussion about it.

But remember if it changes it will mean people will be going to work in pitch black during the winter.

Personally I think it is a stupid idea, it will mess up our free time, just imagine having to wait an extra hour to watch the 8.00 p.m. match or the 9.00 p.m. film?  The whole idea is daft, we run in unison with UK time and unless the UK changes I think it should stay that way. 

[Jason the Maverick]

Nobody got time for this one lol?

[AHITS]

Well the way I see it, unless we also adapt our lifestyles to match the continental standard, it's a pointless exercise.  As you mention, it'll throw us completely off-kilter with the UK - which is just idiocy.

Last time I heard mention of this subject from our States, they were claiming a huge benefit from the switch would be the advantage given to our finance industry - which under CET would be open before the markets in London. If that's such a concern and would benefit us so positively,  a much simpler alternative would be for our finance industry simply to start work one hour earlier - without CET. There are many people on this island who are already required to start work before 9.am, so maybe it's time the finance industry joined their ranks.

[David Rotherham]

Jason is right. Most people look to UK broadcasting for their entertainment, and driving in the dark in the morning is no safer than doing it in the evening. I am old enough to remember the British Standard Time experiment (staying on Summer Time through the winter) and we didn't think much of it.

[Al]

I, personally, have a great fondness for the Julian calendar. Please can we change back to that!

[Chief Minister]

What happens if Jersey says no and Guernsey says yes?

[Jason the Maverick]

I dont think they can do it without the other Islands doing the same.

[Jason the Maverick]

Islanders could get to vote on moving the clocks going forward to Central European Time.

Senator Jim Perchard today lodged a proposition to hold a referendum on 15 October on moving Jersey's clocks forward.

If approved, the vote would be held on the same day as this year's Senatorial election.

If a June debate goes his way, a formal referendum proposition will come back to the States to set up the following question: 'Do you think that Jersey should adopt Central European Time?'.

21 April 2008.

I would rather we had a referendum on GST.

[Davros Le Sueur]

Pointless waste of time 

Why on earth would we want to be out of sync with the UK?
Is it a 'cunning plan' to mess up our recorders set up to copy "Newsnight"

[ryanmorrison]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but thought you'd like to know - in case you hadn't already noticed.

States Members voted in favour of a referendum on whether to move to Central European Time.

The referendum will be held in October - on the 15th to be exact - same day as the Senatorial Elections.

Could be an interesting test - will the chance to vote on a single issue (even a relatively trivial one) help to improve turnout?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/jersey/content/articles/2008/01/29/referendum_on_time_feature.shtml

[Jason the Maverick]

I think it will because changing the hour is a pretty big issue.  I am against it myself because it will mean having to wait an extra hour to watch TV programmes and the winter mornings will be pitch black.

Its a stupid idea.

[plus_ca_change]

I really struggle to understand what all the fuss is about when it comes to clocks and time.  The earth takes the time it takes to revolve and the orbit around the sun won't change.  Changing the clocks can't change the amount of day light or night time.  Just get up an hour earlier/later and go to bed likewise.  It just another case of letting an human artificial device get in the way of a perfectly workable natural way of doing things.

[Jason the Maverick]

Letter in today's rag.  Sounds logical to me:

"The thought of changing our time zone is the worst idea that any of our politicians has thought of since GST.

You do not need a PhD in astrophysics to realise that the control of day and night is not within our powers. The clocks are correct in our time zone if the sun is due south at noon at the reference longitude which, for us, is based at Greenwich.

Giving it a different name or number makes no difference at all. We should not even be changing to BST in the summer. The French have got it wrong and we do not need to make the same mistake.

If people want to start work earlier so that they have longer, lighter evenings, you only need to repeal the law that says that everyone is only allowed to work between 9 am and 5 pm.

If there is no such law, the problem does not exist. If we were encouraged to be more flexible with working hours, the rush hour traffic would be reduced. Maybe the politician who proposed the idea wants to maintain the amount of traffic jams and pollution produced.

Perhaps some think that the transmission of our TV programmes will be adjusted so that we would still be able to watch them at the same clock time. Imagine watching a horse race an hour before it takes place in England – you could win a fortune! If you believe that, you should become a politician.

If we have to make such a change, why not consider that we have a large number of people here who came from Portugal. We could go on Portuguese time! Some people might realise that they use Western European Time, just like the British Isles.

I will not be voting for such a change. I will not vote for any politician who supports the idea".

[Fritz]

Like I said before, just change your clock/watch etc and live in whatever time-zone you want.
Not something I,d want a "National", referendum on.

I,d rather see the resources going into this just used for a referendum on who should be running ther Island.

One person= One vote. (not the silly, "put these six in order of preference nonsense").
Whoever "Tops the bill", runs the show. Simple as that.

[Jason the Maverick]

Talkback this morning is on CET.

They said that no election candidates or promoters can call in between now and the elections.

Should have this rule in all year around.