A leading Brexiter has criticised Rishi Sunak’s government after it announced quietly that it would not be legislating in order to expand the UK’s use of imperial measure.
After it was revealed that only a small fraction of British consumers and businesses wanted to see imperial units play a larger role, the decision to abandon this idea was made.
The government announced on Wednesday that only 1.3% of the 100,000 respondents to a survey on how Britain can capitalize on its “long and proud tradition of using imperial measurements” were in favor of utilizing them more often for purchasing or selling goods.
Jacob Rees Mogg said that the decision to not expand the use traditional British measures — such as gallons and pints or pounds and ounces – was regrettable.
He said: “It’s a little reminder that our government is run by bureaucrats, for bureaucrats.”
In September 2021, the government started a review of the units with the goal of giving businesses and consumers more choices in the sale of domestic goods. However, it quickly hit a wall of public antipathy or apathy.
The UK law currently requires that metric units be used as the primary indicator in all trade for the majority goods. Imperial units must be less prominent when used with metric units.
Miles are the standard unit of measurement on road signs.
The government announced its decision not to amend the law and noted that most respondents to the consultation had “expressed a limited or no appetite” for an increase in imperial measures.
The article added that the arguments against this change included “consumer confusion and increased costs for business”. The report said that both businesses and consumers raised these concerns.
The government has made changes to the sizes of still and sparkling wines that are pre-packaged.
The industry will decide whether it’s worth producing the new containers.
Sir Winston Churchill loved a pint o’ champagne. He said it was enough for “two at lunch and one for dinner”. Robert Burns imagined a man drinking a pint of wine to toast his “bonny Mary”.