Nicholas Craig column

Feb 3 2006 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

One column in The Journal about my problems with builders, and the Government introduces a new crackdown on cowboys.

I feel giddy with power. But enough of my woes: spring is in the air, Valentine's Day is imminent, and supermarkets everywhere have turned their aisles blood red with roses, cards, hearts and fizzy red wine.

February 15 will see the red turn to yellow, with daffodils, bunnies and Easter eggs taking up the chocolate festival theme.

The events may be sharply commercial, but they are embraced with glee by most of us eager to welcome in harbingers of spring. The dark nights, damp weather and constant coughing of colleagues are all coming to an end.

I would like to think productivity increased with the length of the days and the levity of our uplifted moods. Perhaps we should introduce a complex variation of daylight saving to make the most of lighter hours in the evenings.

Black mornings always get brighter. Darkness at 3.45pm is there to stay until you wake the next day, with a mood to match the view from the window.

Daylight savings have occupied the thoughts of many, from Benjamin Franklin and William Willett onwards.

They save on energy, and may save lives, so appear to be worthwhile. Nevertheless, they cause perennial problems of their own.

The "springing forward" day we can look forward to on March 26 will impose a mild case of jet lag from John O'Groats to Land's End. The effort involved in updating computers, clocks, mobile phones and other supposedly hi-tech equipment will take thousands of hours of full-time labour, when multiplied across an out-of-sorts nation.

Farmers and pet-owners will discover that animals take no notice of the logical arguments advanced for putting forward the clocks. However, the event welcomes in warmer days and brighter moods, so we should enjoy it, wrapped up well. Given my current success as Government adviser, perhaps I should propose a sliding scale of work hours during winter months coinciding with lighting up times - when they go on, we go off. It could be a vote-winner.

Nicholas Craig is a partner at Watson Burton LLP