Amy Lamé slams Daylight Savings: “Give London its hour back”

London Night Czar Amy Lamé criticised the decision to turn the clocks back on Sunday (March 31), calling on the UK government to “give London its hour back.”

The Night Czar has come under fire in recent months, over her insistence that London is a “24-hour city” — despite club closures, licensing battles over operating hours and a decrease in footfall for venues during her tenure.

Lamé has now doubled down on the claims. In an expletive-filled rant on Twitter, she described the decision to force the capital to observe the switch to British Summer Time (BST), and therefore temporarily changing the UK timezone as “not fucking on.”

“London is, and always will be, a 24-hour city,” she wrote. “This is yet another challenge that the capital’s nightlife must face, being forced to adhere to the government’s bullshit daylight savings. Maybe it’s time for @10DowningStreet to give London its hour back!”

The government has yet to respond to Lamé’s comments.

The UK has officially observed daylight savings since the introduction of the Summer Time Act 1916, following a successful campaign by builder William Willett — enacted to reduce the morning light time and increase evening light time by one hour.

The start and finishing times of daylight savings were previously aligned with EU regulation, but the UK chose to retain the practice upon leaving the block in 2016.

“We’re not farmers any more!” Lamé continued. “We don’t need to economise candle usage. The 1.3 million people in London doing really important jobs like working in the NHS, driving buses, stacking shelves – they do that so we can live our lives during the day. How do you think they feel having their shift cut an hour shorter, and their heroic impact being minimised?”

Lamé was met with criticism for her opposition to the clocks going back, with Twitter user @clockwatchdawg writing: “Kim, nightclubs are closing every month.” While @98848593487624CT wrote: “Will this make its way into licensing agreements then? Can nightlife venues get an extra hour?”

The official Twitter account of the Greenwich Royal Observatory, the home of the Prime Meridian used to measure the world’s timekeeping and navigation, simply responded: “This is over the line.”

BST Summer Time Hyde Park promoter AEG, released a statement insisting: “Daylight savings means people have much more leisure time in the evening, they can go to parks, spend time with their friends, listen to music.”

“And starting this year, they can even get transported back in time at The Amex Experience — a Y2K-style experience with a modern twist, including a cocktail bar, hair salon and an exclusive bucket hat. It’s a proud British tradition!”

While DJ EZ, famed for his 24-hour DJ sets, came out in support of Lamé: “No she’s completely right. Let’s just do away with this ’23 hour day’, every day should be 24 hours! London let’s stop this nonsense.”

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also came out in support of the Night Czar, writing: “Maybe it’s time we had our own time zone, L24CT anyone?” It is not known if this policy will make its way into the Mayor’s upcoming re-election manifesto.

Mixmag contacted representatives for the London Night Czar to inquire about plans of what to do with the extra hour when clocks go forward in October. Though a full plan was not released, a spokesperson said simply “London is a 24-hour City, no more, no less.”

Teemya Gotavotch is Mixmag’s summertime correspondent, follow them on Twitter.