YOU may have noticed it’s been getting darker recently – not too long after 5pm, for those keeping tabs on the gloom.

It’s been 90 years since us Brits decided to voluntarily launch the bizarre exercise of changing our clocks, and all those decades on, what have we gained?

Yes, a bit of extra light in the morning, but at the expense of a headlong rush into darkness at an absurdly early hour, which arrives quicker and quicker with every passing day until Christmas has gone.

In recent years strong lobbying groups have formed around the country suggesting we confine this tactic to the history books, which is frankly where it belongs.

Having lighter mornings helps farmers in the wee early hours, and children going to school, say the clock change supporters.

But the NHS says keeping the clocks as they are could save £200m because of fewer accidents during the evening rush hour in winter.

Darker evenings are believed to cost British tourism millions in reduced revenue as people are more reluctant to venture out.

And I’d wager the extra carbon emissions from vehicles moving slower, car lights being switched on earlier and extra heating doesn’t help either.

It appears you can prove almost anything with statistics, so let’s put the figures aside for a moment and consider it from another perspective.

We can’t have sunlight around the clock, but during the winter period those few hours of normality are precious.

This is a well-established parliamentary democracy, and the wishes of the majority of British people should prevail.

A massive poll by website MSN last year showed 78 per cent of Brits wanted the strange ritual scrapped.

A similar survey by the Daily Mail resulted in 84 per cent calling for an end, while a poll by the BBC found 70 per cent wanted it axed.

This is clearly something most people want to see happen, and if the Scots continue to dig their heels in, there is nothing wrong with our Tartan neighbours sticking to whatever time they want.

The ultimate irony to all this is that the last time the House of Commons looked at it, via MP Rebecca Harris’ Daylight Saving Bill, it ran out of parliamentary time for any changes to become law.

Let’s stop this utter madness once and for all and focus on lighter evenings all year round.