UK Bid To Turn Clock Back With Imperial Measures ‘Bad for Consumers’ Say Metric Fans

Shoppers in the fruit and vegetables section of a branch of Sainsbury's in London on Oct. 15, 2021 (PA)

The UK Metric Association has said the plans by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government to bring back imperial weights and measures in shops and other businesses will make it harder for consumers to compare prices at a time of rising inflation.

Ministers are to announce on Friday—timed to coincide with the Queen’s platinum jubilee—plans to begin a consultation on allowing imperial measurements to be used by market traders and other businesses.

In 2000 the E.U. weights and measures directive came into force in Britain, meaning all traders were legally required to use metric units for fresh produce and any sale by weight.

The following year Sunderland greengrocer Steve Thoburn hit the headlines when he was convicted of selling bananas only by the pound.

He was nicknamed the “metric martyr” and, although he died in 2004, there remains a campaign to give him a posthumous Royal Pardon.

Ironically Sunderland voted for Brexit in the 2016 referendum and now, with Britain no longer in the E.U., the government is no longer bound by the weights and measures directive.

Earlier this week Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, speaking on the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme on Sky News on May 29, said bringing back imperial weights and measures could be one of the benefits of Brexit and added: “Yes, it is one of the smaller things we can do since we left the E.U., there are other bigger things we can do and want to do, but it is an indication we now have the freedom to make these decisions ourselves.”

“This gives people and businesses the freedom,” he said. “There are sectors out there—I know people out there in my constituency, the market traders and vegetable traders as well as some of the pubs—which will be pleased to be able to go back to those imperial measurements.”

Alicia Kearns, one of 20 Conservative MPs who has admitted she no longer has confidence in the prime minister, wrote on Twitter: “Not one constituent, ever, has asked for this. This isn’t a Brexit freedom. It’s a nonsense.”

Ronnie Cohen, a member of the UK Metric Association’s ruling committee, agreed with Kearns and said weights and measures policy had never been a major issue at elections.

Cohen told The Epoch Times: “It looks like a desperate attempt by Boris Johnson to save his job and regain the support of Brexit supporters. It is ironic that they are choosing to do it during the jubilee because the Commonwealth went metric years ago.”

India switched over from imperial to metric measures in 1956, although in rural India the gram and kilogram still compete with older, indigenous measures such as the tola, seer, and maund.

Cohen said: “Opposition to the metric system seems to be associated with the European Union despite the fact that Britain embarked on metrication in 1965, eight years before joining the European Union.”

Under the E.U. weights and measures directive British shops and stallholders can price goods in pounds and ounces but they have to also display prices in grams and kilograms.

A Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy spokesman said, in an email to The Epoch Times: “The government plans to publish a consultation on the use of imperial measures alongside guidance for using a crown symbol on pint glasses. The consultation will run for 12 weeks and we look forward to hearing your views once the consultation is published.”

The government’s plans could sweep all the E.U. regulations away and allow retailers and wholesalers to display prices in whatever way they want but Cohen said this would be harmful to consumers.

“When most people are struggling with the cost of living this will make it harder for them to compare prices and this is the last thing they need,” he said.

Cohen pointed out that when British petrol stations switched from pricing petrol and diesel in litres, rather than gallons, it was accepted with very few grumbles.

“This is not an issue even for leave voters,” he added.

A Yougov poll in April this year suggested the number of people using metric measurements rather than imperial continued to increase, with most people under 50 using the metric system to describe the weight of produce.

The survey also suggested that all age groups prefer to describe someone’s height in terms of feet and inches, as opposed to metres.

When it comes to dating profiles, sporting statistics or even police wanted posters, the default choice is to describe someone as five feet eight inches tall, rather than 1 metre 77 centimetres.