Why are the authorities afraid to tackle law breaking by imperialists?

Last month, there were reports about vigilantes damaging ULEZ cameras in London and 20 mph speed limit signs in Wales. These incidents were widely reported in the British media. By contrast, the media ignore a group of imperial vigilantes who take the law into their own hands and deface, damage and remove metric signs. They also ignore market traders and small shops that price loose goods by the pound only (with no metric equivalent) in defiance of the Price Marking Order. Why are the authorities intimidated by them?

There is a direct-action anti-metric group that consists of imperial vigilantes who go around the country to remove and deface metric signs and boast about their activities on their website. Their website claims that they have replaced thousands of metric signs and replaced them with imperial signs. The website has a picture gallery of defaced signs and some prominent imperialists. One prominent member of this group was prosecuted for theft and criminal damage. He was described by a judge as an imperial vigilante. You can read about this case here on BBC News. Although his conviction for theft was later quashed, his conviction for criminal damage was upheld.

As a result of DfT policies, the British are virtually unique in the whole world for not allowing metric units on almost any road signs. This has led to the misconception that metric units are illegal on British road signs. Unfortunately, many local authorities seem to be ignorant about the true legal position of metric signs and have given in to intimidation from extremist, politically motivated groups who threaten to vandalise signs.

For a long time, trading standards departments have been reluctant to enforce the Price Marking Order, which states that imperial units can be displayed as long as metric units are displayed with equal prominence. In 2001, the authorities took some traders to court for defying the law by pricing in imperial units only and by using unstamped weighing equipment. These court cases gained publicity in the popular press where the traders became known as the metric martyrs. Since then, the authorities have been reluctant to prosecute traders for these offences out of fear of creating more metric martyrs.

On metrication issues, the political establishment and the authorities have run a mile. They are reluctant to challenge the imperialists even when their actions break the law. They have left the task of challenging myths and misconceptions about metrication to organisations such as the UK Metric Association.

Sources and further reading:

NOTE: Metric Views articles do not name anti-metric groups or provide links to their websites to avoid giving them publicity.

13 thoughts on “Why are the authorities afraid to tackle law breaking by imperialists?”

  1. I remember them getting some mainstream attention around the Brexit referendum as a way to point out certain people’s hostility to things European and to change in general, but what got missed is that it is a direct consequence of the DFT and successive governments’ refusal to embrace the metrication of transport. By not doing so, it made it easier to make it out to be some creeping imposition, rather than it being because they were constantly stumbling around blocks in order to support antiquated and inconsistent measurement units, that they didn’t have the courage to phase it out. If the UK switched over to km, people would have quickly gotten used to it, and there wouldn’t be such hostility towards it.

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  2. Maybe the UKMA needs to fight fire with fire. That is to establish its own group of patriots willing to undo the damage the anti-metric terrorists have so far gotten away with. Start changing signs from imperial to metric. Revert back to metric the signs they have amended. Boycott shops that refuse to use metric and support shops that do.

    The use of metric units in the UK is the law of the land and trumps all other laws to the contrary. The exception for road signs is illegal and should be fought. Is there anyone on the metric side willing to rise up to the challenge?

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  3. @Daniel “Start changing signs from imperial to metric.”

    Vandalism is a crime and is generally not a good way of winning over hearts and minds. Besides, it is futile, as there are only a certain number of signs that anyone could possibly deface. It also doesn’t address the underlying problem of the TSRGD not permitting metres and km. As long as that is the case, local authorities are compelled not to and would likely just replace it with a new sign with imperial units on it in order to comply with current TSRGD rules as well as having the risk of getting fined for criminal damage.

    Groups that do it aren’t winning hearts and minds for their cause; just read the comment sections of articles that cover it. Even in conservative-leaning newspapers that have a problem using metric themselves, the UKMA should really be above that, and its supporters should not engage in such petty vandalism.

    There is no good reason why metres and km aren’t permitted for distance in the TSRGD, and the UKMA should be pushing for them to be authorised so such groups no longer have that excuse for their vandalism, but this is the wrong way of doing it. 

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  4. I held my nose and had a look at ARM’s website. It seems amazing that they talk of ‘forced metrication’ when the use of metric units was authorized by Parliament in the 19th century. What about ‘forced imperialism’? Britons who have been taught metric at school are forced to adapt to the antiquated imperial system as soon as they learn to drive, or arguably even before that as many road signs for pedestrians are in old-fashioned units too. ARM conveniently and selectively chooses to overlook that. Any system of measurement that is authorized and introduced by a Government is effectively ‘forced’ on the population. Just at the use of a particular national currently is decided and ‘forced’ on the people without their largely having any say in the matter. If ARM has views it feels should be supported, it should follow the political process like everyone else. Its tactics of stealth, intimidation and causing criminal damage to public property should not be tolerated a moment longer. I am surprised they have been allowed to continue as long as they have.

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  5. Alex,

    It seems when you are a supporter of FFU and you damage metric signs, you are a true patriot of England. When you are a supporter of SI and damage a FFU sign, you are a vandal. This message is obviously clear. You claim they aren’t winning the hearts and minds for their cause. Obviously they are since they aren’t getting into any trouble with the law and the authorities are keeping out of their way and as well, they receive full fake media and government support. Obviously any comments in the comment sections are being ignored by those with the power to do something.

    Something is wrong somewhere if they can get powerful support for their actions and you have to fear an arrest if you did the same thing in reverse. The right way to take action is doing what works and gets results. ARM gets results and UKMA does not. So, it is obvious who has won the hearts and minds of maybe not the nation, but of the ones that count. It’s past time to change this around.

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  6. Human beings seem to have a weakness (or several?) when it comes to facing up to mistakes and current troubles. One way is to imagine a “golden age” in the past and then seek ways to return to the “good old days” even if it involves only superficial symbolism.

    For Britain the “good old days” is the Empire under Queen Victoria and the superficial symbolism includes (among other things) Imperial units.

    At some point smarter, more level-headed and rational people will constitute the government in Westminster and specifically DfT, at which point distance and speed limit signs will be converted to metric.

    And if that government seeks to rejoin the EU not only will the UK have to adopt the Euro but it will also see a reinstatement from the EU of the old requirement for metric road signs that was eventually dropped by the EU under the old arrangements the UK had. Any new membership will not see the EU indulge the UK in all the “opt outs” it used to have before leaving.

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  7. Ezra:

    You are conflating two (almost) entirely separate issues, Britain’s metrication changeover and its membership of the EEC/EU. Its conversion to metric units began before the UK joined the then EEC. Yes, there were EEC requirements for the UK progressively to adapt to metric across the board, but the UK argued to keep a number of imperial units which it deemed were ‘for internal purposes only’. It was successful in that endeavour. But in my recollection the government’s “success” was in response to pressure from the right-wing of the Tory party and the right-wing press. No sane government would ever have caved in to those pressures. A sane government would have explained the case for moving on, updating our measures and completing the process. Alas, that has not happened yet. The other points about what might or might not happen depending on political choices the UK makes are not really so relevant to the need for the UK to see the mess it has landed itself in and to join up the strands of the sectors where measurements and units of measurement are used. An example: yards are outlawed when it comes to buying material, metres are outlawed on road signs. There is something very wrong there. Either metres or yards, but not one unit in one area and the other in another.

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  8. @metricnow
    I have a hunch the UK will have to adapt more stringently to EU rules if it ever becomes a member again. One such rule will be metric road signs. Other derogations or opt-outs that were a part of the old EU membership for. the UK will also not be available.
    Only time will tell for sure. Let’s see what actually happens.
    In the meantime, I hope the upcoming by-elections and one or two more that may be happening early next year all go to Labour (or the Lib-Dems) so that it might encourage the Tories to trigger an earlier generation election to usher in a Labour government. I think we stand a better chance of seeing advances in metrication under Labour than we ever have had under the Tories.

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  9. The King’s autumn speech is scheduled for 2023-11-07, about 3 weeks from this post. It is during this speech that those wishing for a return to imperial are hoping King Charles will grant them some type of “freedom” to return to or simply use old units legally in the marketplace.

    We have to pay close attention to this speech and hope he never brings up the subject. If he doesn’t the case is closed forever and the chances are good there can be a completion to metrication in the near future. If he gives the OK for freedom to use whatever units you want, then expect no future metrication and expect a total breakdown and chaos when it comes to measurements in industry and the market.

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  10. @Daniel – Just to put things into perspective – the “Kings Speech” is written for him by the Prime Minister (or the Prime Minister’s speech-writer). In it, the King outlines the legislation that the government of the day intends to bring before Parliament. Parliament might actually reject the legislation that is mentioned in the King’s Speech or if there is too tight a timetable or an election is suddenly called, certain items of intended legislation might be dropped.

    I would also like to point out that many items of legislation give the minister freedom to amend certain items in the legislation by means of a statutory order. In such circumstances the minister publishes the proposed changes and Parliament has three weeks to inject. If no objection is received, then the amendments go through.

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  11. I’m holding out hope that the upcoming by-elections (there are rumours of maybe a couple more early next year after the ones that are about to happen) all go sideways for the Tories and encourage them to hold a general election as soon as they announce their spring budget next year. With any luck Labour will win a solid majority in Parliament and new government will quash any nonsense about reviving Imperial and even open the door to converting road signs. Fingers crossed, as they say.

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  12. Ezra,

    I wouldn’t hold out to much hope that if a particular political party gets elected there is going to be a some sort of miracle that their leaders see the light and push forth a plan to complete metrication. In the past a political party’s support for metrication came via pressure from the captains of industry and business that pressed the political elites to back a change. It was determined at the time to be in everyone’s best interest if metrication became national policy and it did (with unfortunately some exceptions).

    Let’s face the facts of the present time, there is no pressure or demand coming from the leaders of industry and business. In their eyes they completed their metrication decades ago and don’t care if the road signs change. They don’t affect anyone’s bottom line as far as I know, for if they did there would be pressure to correct this. As long as industry is functioning successfully in metric internally and the employees they hire are functional in SI units and their products sell quite well in the world metric markets then they are happy.

    However, it is also in their best interest that at least the status quo remains as it is. I’m not referring to traffic signs, but to chatter in recent years of a reversion to imperial. Any future such talk as there has been lately will meet with real resistance, not just some whining by a group of Luddites and politicians, but by people in industry with deep pockets who will see any demetrication as a threat to their company’s and their personal livelihood and do something about it.

    Is the last stages of metrication a lost cause then? Possibly. Change will have to come from the bottom up, not the top down. It has to be the people on the street that feel that a mixed collection of unrelated units hurts their bottom line. That the muddle and confusion is destroying their chances of moving forward and gets in the way of them increasing their personal wealth. Unless there is a push from the bottom, I don’t see any hope in the status quo changing.

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  13. This topic has diverged somewhat. Going back to the original line, from 1 January 2000 I expected everything I bought by measurement to be in metric. This was the case. One greengrocer I patronised was rather late in making the change because he had been unable to have his weighing machine converted. Trading Standards took a sympathetic line and granted some leeway. I bought a lot from market traders in those days. Some were still emphasising “pounds sterling”, but if I asked for half a kilo of plums, that is what I was served with, without quibble. If anyone finds a trader refusing to trade in metric, report them to Trading Standards.

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