To rehearse the arguments again would seem tedious, were they not stronger every year. The most compelling is road safety. Accidents are twice as likely on dark evenings as they are on twilit mornings. Campaigners say that at least 450 extra deaths and serious injuries are caused by early winter darkness. For children who walk to school — fewer every year — it would, in most of Britain, already be light by 8.30. And the extra hour of evening light would give time for after-school football and general exercise.

Industry’s case is based on the saving in fuel and electricity costs from longer daylit hours, estimated at £35 million, and added earnings from tourism. There is also the convenience of harmonising Britain’s working day with continental Europe, our main export market — or, as we would prefer to see it, continental Europe harmonising with us. More important, however, is the effect of evening light on national morale. Only now do we fully understand seasonally adjusted depression. The attempt by an Austrian village to use mirrors to reflect winter sunlight into their benighted valley shows the lengths that communities will go in the search for sun. Geography determines our short winter days. Custom dictates working, eating and sleeping hours. And since most Britons dislike rising at 6.00, lunch at 11.45 and an evening meal at 6.30, the answer is to move notionally east of Greenwich.

It has been done before. Summer time began in 1916, when Germany changed the clocks and foes around Europe followed. During the Second World War Britain had double summer time, giving daylight in the south until 10.30pm and even later in Scotland. Stalin moved the Soviet Union permanently an hour ahead of its allocated time zones. Today some 70 countries use daylight saving time. But why adopt a good idea for only half a year? Summer should be permanent.