Today, King Charles III read out the King’s Speech, which describes the Government’s legislative programme for the year ahead. The House of Lords briefing published on 1 November 2023 raised the possibility that the Government might revive their plans to bring back imperial units. It came as a huge sigh of relief to metrication campaigners, including UKMA, that there were no references to weights and measures in the King’s Speech. They were also absent from the Prime Minister’s briefing on the King’s Speech. So, what can we expect from the Government on future measurement policy?
In recent times, UKMA has been fighting to stop the Government going backwards on metrication. So far, we have seen off the threat of the abolition of weights and measures legislation as part of the bonfire of EU-derived laws. We have been resisting Government proposals to restore imperial units to the marketplace, which appear in their “Choice on units of measurement: markings and sales” consultation.
The Government has still not responded to this consultation despite closing on 26 August 2022, well over a year ago. The official government website says that a final government response to the consultation will be published in due course but does not say when it will be published. No timescale is given for publication. Perhaps the Government wants to quietly drop it altogether and forget about it. The best we can hope for is that the Government will scrap the consultation citing technical problems with it, which Metric Views has covered in previous articles.
Given the dominance of Brexiteers in the ruling Conservative Party and their hostility to the metric system, there is no realistic prospect of making any progress on metrication under this Government. The best we can hope to achieve is to maintain the status quo until we see a change of government. A new administration may be more open-minded about metrication.
You can find the Prime Minister’s briefing notes on the King’s Speech 2023 at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-kings-speech-2023-background-briefing-notes.
You can find the consultation on bringing back imperial units at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/choice-on-units-of-measurement-markings-and-sales.
Metric Views 
A slight sigh of relief, perhaps. The King’s speech did contain many big issues which the Government needs to tackle in its last year before the Election. There is unlikely to be any progress or regress on metrication in that period. I agree with Ronnie – let’s get our case prepared for the next administration.
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I don’t want to fall into the trap of blaming the government for not publishing the results of the consultation since it isn’t the fault of everyone in the government but of a few select individuals who for some unknown reason despise the metric system. Most, if not all of those individuals have been driven out of their government positions over the past year or so.
But, my belief for them not publishing the results of the consultation is simple. They know that the results completely oppose their agenda and they refuse to admit it before the public and the media. I’m sure even those in the fake news media don’t want it to be known either as it would reflect negatively on the entire media. The fake news reporters and editors overwhelming oppose metrication and to suddenly find themselves on the opposite side of the majority of the public can and will mean a full loss of both credibility on behalf of the individual news outlets as well as their financial income. They could be forced out of business.
Let’s hope that by both the King and the Prime Minister avoiding the measurement issue that they have set in motion the possibility to complete metrication. King Charles seems to be highly in favour of trade agreements with other nations and blocks that would be impossible to achieve any success if England were to revert in any amount back to imperial.
If the imperial Luddites continue to have their proverbial foot in the door, they will continue to look for opportunities to press the issue as they have been doing in recent times. The only way to prevent another attempt as has been experienced in the last few years is for education, industry, individuals, and even the news media, etc, to call for a completion to metrication. That is to declare any laws opposing metric units, such as on road signs illegal and to remove them and begin the process for road sign metrication.
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An article in today’s Times stated that 34% of parents had trouble helping their children with primary school homework. Towards the top end of primary school (or it may I have been the bottom end of secondary school), I was expected to know that 6 oz was 0.375 lbs. This ceased to be taught in British schools from the late 1960’s onwards, so if imperial units were to be reintroduced into our markets, how would the parents of school-going children be expected to convert between decimal of a pound and ounces?
I did a quick check on the ages of our members of cabinet. As far as I could see, only one, Lord True (Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal, born 1951) would have been taught imperial units – all the rest are too young. The other people of note who would have been taught imperial units are His Majesty (born 1948) and Sir Lindasy Hoyle (Speaker of the House of Commons, born 1957). It is unlikely that the King’s youngest brother, Prince Edward (born 1964), was taught imperial units.
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From what I’ve seen so far (from way over here in the USA) it doesn’t look like it will take much for a Labour government (if it wins the general election) to nudge the UK out of the metric muddle. Convert road signs to metric, whisper into the right people at the BBC to drop Imperial in their articles and news reports, and the rest will just fall into place without much of a fuss.
UKIP/Reform UK, the ERG, and all that lot (plus the Daily Wail, GB News, and associated media outlets) can complain all they want at that point. I suspect such noise will fall mostly on deaf ears.
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Ezra,
Could you please explain to us why you think that a Labour government more than any other government party would have a positive effect on completing metrication in the UK? Can you name any minister or political elite in the Labour party that has stated at any time a strong desire to complete the metrication process that the rest of us are unaware of? I can’t think of any person from any political party that supports the completion of metrication, but maybe you do. If so, please keep us informed.
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Daniel,
The Labour party is the only that will form a new government. The Tories are useless when it comes to metrication. I feel pretty confident that those in that government who even go so far as to want the UK to rejoin the EU will be supportive of metrication.
It is not up to me to name names. Take a breath and relax, Daniel. Time will tell how this all plays out. 🙂
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Daniel,
Time will tell how a Labour government deals with the metric muddle.
I’m patient enough to see how it plays out.
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This shows that we should not underestimate the modifying and stabilizing effect of the House of Lords. It did its bit in pruning out the less-plausible elements of the King’s Speech briefing.
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Ezra,
There is nothing unique about the Labour party that makes them pro-metric. You make think so because metrication 50 years ago came about during the time the Labour party was in power under Heath. But, this does not mean that the Labour party’s involvement had anything to do with a particular affection for metric units. It had everything to do with the leaders of industry at the time pressuring the members of the Labour party in power to bring about the change as it was seen at the time a needed reform to advance technology and economy. If another party was in power, they would have received the same pressure and most likely responded the same way.
Fast-forward to the 2020s and there is no pressure coming from anyone to promote the completion metrication, so there is no action from any of the parties. There is only a group of Luddites and the media poking at government officials and political parties like the UKIP to bring about a reversal. Thankfully there is resistance from people behind the scenes to prevent this as we have recently seen.
A Labour government or any government for that matter will not take it upon itself to bring about the completion of metrication. There has to be an outside demand, either from the population en masse or from segments of the economy. As I said, it needs people in education, industry, individuals, and even the news media, etc, to call for a completion to metrication. If they put enough pressure on members of the government and can convince members of the government that the completion of metrication is in the best interest of the country, then and only then will you see a positive reaction from any party in power, not just from the membership of the Labour party.
I hope you understand this and remember this the next time you get the urge to mention the Labour party. If you don’t believe me, then why not write to a someone of importance in the Labour party and see what they tell you needs to happen for them to take action on the completion of metrication. Don’t be surprised if they give you a response similar to what I’m giving you.
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Martin,
Can you please provide a link to that article in the Times you were referring to?
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Daniel: I think you are referring to the time when the Labour Party was in power in Harold Wilson. Heath was a Conservative, and later Prime Minister. Otherwise, I broadly agree with your idea that gentle pressure is needed from various quarters to bring about the necessary changes. One would be for doctors and nurses to quietly ask patients to know and remember their weights in kilogram. Since virtually all home weighing appliances are switchable, this should not be difficult to achieve. The biggest stumbling block generally still seems to be the DfT which stubbornly refuses to allow the units of measurement taught in schools to be used on road signs. There is something wrong with a country where there is this mismatch between government and reality. My suggestion would be at least to authorise the use of metres and kilometres and to see where that leads. We like things to be organic, to be wanted by people and not imposed. I think the use of metric units would spread like wildfire if they were actually authorised for official use.
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Daniel, you are right. Much of the metrication that the public sees, such as the sale of food and other goods, and school education, etc, was instigated 50 years ago under the Heath Government. Heath’s Government was Conservative though, not Labour.
Conservative Government policy at that time was laid out in the White Paper on Metrication, published in 1972, and includes this statement:
“The move to metrication has been taking place over many years, but the Government believe that the time has now come when they must act to ensure the orderly completion of the process.”
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Thanks metricnow and m for your response. I might have made a mistake with names and parties but at least it helped bring about additional information from both of you. That being that members of any political party did not initiate upon themselves the change in a vacuum. They were nudged by the president of the Board of Trade in May 1965. The members of the government parties saw fit to initiate legally the change that was taking place organically for years.
From the link provided by m:
“The White Paper affirmed that it was Government policy to complete the metrication process that had begun in earnest seven years previously:
“The move to metrication has been taking place over many years, but the Government believe that the time has now come when they must act to ensure the orderly completion of the process.”
The recent times push away from metrication is not the result of an change originating from a majority of members of industry and trade but from government agents acting upon itself in the hopes of satisfying a minority of Luddites operating in the fringes of society. People not trying to grow the economy but to suppress and destroy it.
The then government members involved in the metrication process sought to bring about an orderly change to reduce chaos and cost, whereas the present government demons are seeking to bring about a return to imperial in a most disorderly and chaotic manner that benefits no one.
As for the DfT, how this organisation was allowed to enact a law forbidding metric units on signs has to be in itself illegal. I was surprised to find that the pound and yard are still considered primary defined units, yet the yard, pint and pound are also defined as supplemental units.
But still with the mile being defined only as a supplemental unit, how can it be legal for this unit to appear on road signs without the primary kilometre appearing first and in larger font? The same being true for the yard.
How can the pint be legal in pubs when it is a supplemental units requiring a primary unit to appear. Somewhere in the pub it should state that the pint glass holds 570 mL and as in other countries the pint should be legally defined as 570 mL.
I don’t know enough about laws and what loop holes are allowed to exist, but I would hope that someone at the UKMA or Metricviews looks into this and question the legality of the DfT forbidding metric units on road signs.
From the Wikipedia article on the Weights and Measures Act:
“As of January 2020, following multiple amendments over the years since enactment, the metre, yard, kilogram and pound remain as the primary defined units and with the requirement to maintain the “United Kingdom primary standards” for them.”
“At the same time, all the imperial units, except pint and ounce troy (but including all of those which were originally defined as not to be used for trade) were reclassified as being available for use for trade as supplementary indications, namely: mile, furlong, chain, yard, foot, inch, square mile, acre, rood, square yard, square foot, square inch, cubic yard, cubic foot, cubic inch, bushel, peck, gallon, quart, gill, fluid ounce, fluid drachm, minim, ton, hundredweight, cental, quarter, stone, pound, ounce, dram, grain, pennyweight, ounce apothecaries, drachm, scruple and quintal. “
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The problem is not IMO the Conservative Party or the Labour party (or for that matter the LibDems, SNP or any other party), but rather the way in which the anti-EU brigade have exploited our first-past-the-post electoral system by making metrication an anti-EU concept. I don’t believe that they care about metrication one way or the other, but if they can convince 1% of the electorate that the wicked EU has forced metrication on them, they have a hold over both Conservative and Labour, both of whom are fighting over the “Red Wall” seats.
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I do think that despite reversal of metrication not being in the King’s speech that we do still need to be vigilant and until the current government has gone I believe strongly that the only thing we can all do is keep fighting to ensure that there are no sneaky changes by the back-door.
After the next election a light touch with the new administration might be a good way to start. Pointing out the inconsistencies in the laws like the ban on m and km on roads (even if we don’t push for metricated road signs). The discrepancy in Health and Safety laws that mean private companies have to put distance signs up in metric yet allow authorities to put ‘Yards’ on distances to emergency exits on road tunnels, things like that.
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Free Thinker,
I believe the Luddites will always try to seek out members of governmental parties to push their agenda. They have nothing to lose by trying. But, if the King and present Prime Minister have a strong connection with leaders of industry and economy and truly seek contracts and treaties with other countries and trade blocks, then they know the importance of SI as an integral part of the English economy.
If they don’t already know, then they have to be made aware and pressured to see the economic advantages of completing the metrication process. That the best advantage of completing the metrication process is the message that would be sent around the world, that England is truly open for business.
Completing the metrication process is also important in ending any future possibility once and for all of any threat of reintroducing imperial. Even if the Luddites try to put pressure on government officials they will be promptly ignored. But, we can hope with the completion of metrication this will be seen as a lost cause.
I hope members of the UKMA take the present opportunity and get together if they haven’t already and formulate a list of issues and concerns that need to be addressed in order to bring about the completion of metrication. Maybe even presenting them to the pages of Metricviews.
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I don’t generally like to take party-political lines; however there have been some points made lately that I cannot let pass without comment.
In the early 1960s I was well aware that trade and industry favoured a move to the metric system. The Conservative government that had been in power since 1951 certainly did much to take the UK from austerity to prosperity. However, metrication was not on the agenda.
Labour won the election of October 1964 with a small majority. Within months, the Wilson government announced the official plan to adopt metric and SI units. Also, the plan to introduce decimal currency was drawn up, and new decimal coins started to appear from 1968.
In 1970, the Conservatives returned to power. Changeover to decimal currency took place in February 1971. Of course, Labour had done all the planning and preparation for this, and there could be no turning back. The Conservatives published the White Paper of 1972, ostensibly proposing the completion of the metrication progress. However, this was never fully enacted, and appears to have been a guise by Ted Heath to present as acceptable as possible a picture to the Common Market, which he was persuading us to join. The plan to metricate the highways was suspended.
In 1974 there were two elections, and Labour won the second with a small majority. Some progress took place in the following years, with metric packs of many food items being introduced. In 1979, the Conservatives returned. There was much back-tracking on consumer goods. Unit pricing was introduced, but in imperial terms, missing the opportunity to introduce metrication in a friendly and helpful way. By the 1990s, things were in a big muddle. One would find idiotic unit pricing, e.g., soft drinks sold in metric containers but priced in pence per pint. Metric packs of greengroceries were sold alongside similar products sold by imperial weight.
In 1997, Labour returned to power with a landslide majority. Two and a half years after, In 2000, metric became compulsory for all goods measured at point of sale. It would seem that this was instigated more by the new government than the previous.
It is fair to say the Tony Blair’s “New Labour” of 1997 onwards did not do much more than enact the new 2000 regulations. Also, various Conservative governments have made small contributions. The first Highway Code with metric references appears to be the 1993 edition. As has been mentioned, the legislation requiring bridge heights to be shown in metric (albeit on an opportunity basis) came under the Conservatives.
Overall, if I were to be forced to choose which political party more strongly favoured metrication, I would say that the record indicates Labour by a short head. However, its recent record is weak.
If Labour should win the next election, we should not therefore be too complacent. My wish is that UKMA should continue to be politically independent and continue to campaign with whichever party is in power.
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While it is true that Harold Wilson’s “White heat of technology” speech was a driver towards decimalisation and metrication, I believe that decimalisation had a much bigger driver – the advent of computers.
Almost all computer have a built-in facility to handle decimals, but the facility to handle pounds shillings and pence would have to be built into each program. Writing as somebody who learned FORTRAN in 1969, such a requirement would have caused many problems, so I suspect that the leaders of British Industry told the prime minister of the day in no uncertain terms, that unless the UK adopted a decimal currency, she would fall behind in competitiveness.
Moreover, the fact that between the end of the Second World War and 1968, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and a number of other countries had ditched unwieldy currency systems for decimalised system served only to add more pressure because those countries would not be interested in importing equipment designed to handle £sd.
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Martin,
Maybe the English wouldn’t be looking back to the past at pre-decimalisation and pre-metrication if they had abandoned the pound for the dollar as everyone else did. Somehow having the word pound buzz into everyone’s ears on a daily basis makes too many people think the past times were more glorious than they really were.
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Here is a fun history of the ups and downs of trying to get the metric system adopted in the USA:
Fun tidbit: this video even mentions the UKMA and “A Very British Mess” near the end! Bravo! 🙂
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I wonder if King Charles was aware back in November of the results of the consultation and seeing that almost 99 % of the population preferred to stay with using metric units he saw it as political suicide if he would have supported any kind of return to imperial. Thus he ignored the issue.
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