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Westminster News from Paul Waugh
The Waugh Room
News, gossip and insight from PoliticsHome Editor Paul Waugh
Wednesday 18th January 2012 | 05:51
Moggy Time
With his tweeds, specs and patrician manner, Jacob Rees-Mogg is the epitome of the young fogey backbencher.
Aptly enough, it now seems that the Moggster (who has an impressive fan club) is rather literally keen on taking us back in time.
Or to be more precise, on taking the West Country back in time.
For an idle glance at the new amendments to the Daylight Saving Bill suggests that he wants to give Somerset its own time-zone.
Rees-Mogg, 42, has an amendment that states:
"The county of Somerset as defined by the Lieutenants Act 1997 shall revert to the customary time used prior to the Great Western Railway time established in 1840."
Now, for the uninitiated, Great Western Railway time was introduced to ensure trains ran on time in a standardised way across England.
Prior to its introduction, the locally agreed time was often set by local churches and was roughly 10-15 minutes behind London. So Rees-Mogg wants Somerset to run literally at least 10 minutes behind the rest of the UK.
For the anoraks among us, it may be worth pointing out some of the historical background to this. Railway companies faced local opposition when they introduced the new standard time in 1840. For a while, there were two different times shown in some towns and cities: station clocks would show 'London Time' (ie GMT), while others (particularly church clocks) would be set locally.
As a temporary compromise, public clocks in Exeter and Bristol added a second minute hand that showed the London Time for those who wanted it. In Exeter, local time was 14 minutes behind London, while Bristol was 10 minutes behind.
Anyway, it looks as though Rees-Mogg* is determined to go back to the future.
Some say he already lives in the past, but few thought he wanted to stay there permanently.
*FOOTNOTE: This may of course be an elaborate joke by the Moggster to highlight the need to strengthen the Union. Who knows..
UPDATE: Here's what the Mogg Clocks could look like. Bristol's St Nicholas Market still has a three-handed clock just in case it's ever needed again. It's not in Zummerzet but you get the idea...
November 2010
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