METRIC SYSTEM - slowly getting there, inch by inch
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Günter Verheugen 'misleads' on metrics
The European Commission is accused of misleading the public after saying it will allow Britain to retain pints, miles and ounces alongside metric measurements.
The UK Metric Association (UKMA) said Verheugen's statement does not mean that traders can go back to weighing and pricing in imperial measures. Just as they do now, traders will have to weigh or measure goods in metric units (kilograms, litres or metres) at the checkout and also display prices in metric units - with the option of a supplementary indication in non-metric units.
Picture: Günter Verheugen
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Comment: EU gives up on metric Britain
Is this a victory? Not really. It’s just maintaining the status quo - half metrication which infuriates a large proportion of the public.
The media have finally caught up with the news that our masters in Federal Europe have, at least for the time being, given up on forced metrication in England.
However, despite the headlines boldy declaring that Federal Europe has given up on metricating England, they are still very much committed to ensuring that foreign metric measurements are here to stay. Anything you sell still has to be weighed or measured in metric with our own imperial weights and measures as an additional, less prominent, piece of information. You will still be prosecuted by Trading Standards for not using foreign metric weights and measures even though imperial is used by more people than metric.
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Fun fact: prototype mysteriously losing weight
The 118-year-old cylinder that is the international prototype for the metric kilogram, kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing weight -- if ever so slightly. Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, southwest of Paris, says it appears to have lost 50 micrograms compared with the average of dozens of copies.
For scientists, the inconstant metric constant is a nuisance, threatening calculation of things such as electricity generation. But for most people, it won't mean anything. "The kilogram will stay the kilogram, and the weights you have in a weight set will all still be correct," Davis said.
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Britain can carry on using imperial measurements
Europe's Industry Commissioner Gunter Verheugen said: "There is not now and never will be any requirement to drop imperial measurements."
European Union commissioners have ruled that Britain can carry on using imperial measurements such as pints, pounds and miles.
The decision will not affect current law on metric measurements, but means imperial equivalents can be used too. It follows years of wrangling between London and Brussels over metrication.
Picture: Steve Thoburn made headlines around the world over his campaign.
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