On 19 May 2025, the UK concluded a new agreement with the European Union amid cries of betrayal from the pro-Brexit press. While UKMA has no position on UK-EU relations or on this new agreement, it is a case study to show how it is possible to implement policies such as the completion of the Metric Programme, which started in 1965, while resisting attacks from a hostile media.
This new agreement covered the key issues of fishing, farming exports, defence and security, further talks on a cross-border youth experience scheme, passport e-gates and carbon and energy. The government was delivering on its election promise to get a Brexit reset deal to forge closer relations between the UK and the EU. The government released an official statement to say that the agreement will support British businesses, back British jobs, and put more money in people’s pockets and that the package will help make food cheaper, slash red tape, open up access to the EU market and add nearly £9 billion to the UK economy by 2040.
Predictably, various pro-Brexit newspapers criticised the agreement. These were some of the headlines that appeared in these newspapers:
- “Six biggest bombshells in Keir Starmer’s EU-UK Brexit ‘reset’ deal”, Daily Express, 19 May 2025
- “UK-EU reset deal: Globalist Keir Starmer is pushing Britain back into the European Union by stealth, former Brexit party MEP Alex Phillips tells the Mail’s ‘Apocalypse Now?’ podcast”, Daily Mail, 22 May 2025
- “BREXIT BETRAYED Starmer ‘done up like a kipper’ as he agrees EU surrender deal allowing foreign trawlers to plunder UK waters for YEARS”, The Sun, 19 May 2025
- “Starmer trying to ‘kiss goodbye to Brexit’”, Daily Telegraph, 19 May 2025
There were a few days of negative headlines and critical articles in the pro-Brexit press after the agreement was reached with the EU, but the press soon moved on. In the official statement, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made the case for the agreement. UKMA takes no position on this agreement.
Why can’t the government do the same to conclude the UK’s long drawn-out metrication progress by making the case for metrication and completing the UK’s transition to the metric system? This example shows how to fight against a hostile press successfully while making the case for metrication and getting on with the job.
Metric Views 
As an outsider it seems to me a new Labour leader might be what is needed. Time will tell, of course.
Ezra aka punditgi
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The biggest enemy to any scheme that promotes the metric system is the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Their immediate question is “How much will it cost?” followed by “How long will it take to recoup those costs?”
One cheap way to promote the metric system without incurring much cost is to use the freedoms allowed by BREXIT to remove the VAT on rulers, tape measures, measuring jugs and on weighing devices provided that they are calibrated only in metric units. Businesses do not pay VAT on these items (or rather they can recoup their VAT), so the only sectors of the economy affected will be the domestic user. There is already a precedent for this – in 2021 VAT was removed from women’s sanitary products and was never applied to children’s school clothing. Assuming that the average household buys one £20 bathroom scale and one £20 kitchen scale every ten years, a £5 measuring jug every five years, a £2 tape measure and a £2 ruler every year, their average domestic outlay is £9 per household per year of which £1.50 is VAT. This amount is miniscule and will go a long way to encouraging the use of metric units by the younger generation outside the schoolroom.
Another cheap exercise which will cost very little is to publicise the protocol used between the 999/112 switchboard and the relevant emergency services when the SOS button in a motor car is activated. Thus, should a car with no SOS button break down (an older car), the driver can use the same protocol when contacting the emergency services.
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I would settle for MP’s, ministers in particular, using SI units in media interviews.
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I agree with Brian. There has to be high profile people publicly supporting metrication. If they condemned the media degenerates for their anti-metric stance, the media managers may not like the negative publicity their organisation would be getting and change their stance. Metrication is opposed in the media because media decision makers assume the public opposes metrication and they think they are supporting the wishes of their paying customers.
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I notice that the BBC is reporting on the high temperatures from the current heat wave in Europe using only degrees Celsius with no mention anywhere of Fahrenheit either in the TV broadcast or in the text of the article on the BBC news web site. I hope that is a permanent change.
Ezra aka punditgi
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Punditgi,
Let’s just hope that the contemporary meteorologists are so ingrained in degrees Celsius and have been for the last 50 years that they see no need today to guess at what the foreignheat temperature will be. Foreignheat numbers are not provided by the weather office and the meteorologist him/herself have to do a manual conversion. It’s not worth the effort. But, you will always run into a Luddite meteorologist who feels the urge show their ignorance.
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@Daniel
You are quite right. The very next day an older looking guy gave a live report on the BBC about the heat wave and deigned to convert the Celsius temperature to Fahrenheit. At least he did it only once and stuck to Celsius during the rest of his report. I am sure as you say that he did the conversion himself. Given his obvious age, I can only hope that he is literally a dying breed!
Ezra aka punditgi
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Here is a bit of good news about a country dropping Imperial in a particular sector of the economy and replacing it with metric:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/dubais-switch-to-cubic-meters-for-water-bills-why-it-matters-more-this-summer/articleshow/122794842.cms
Ezra aka punditgi
Editor: Here’s the link to the original announcement:
https://dewa.gov.ae/en/about-us/media-publications/latest-news/2025/02/dewa-adopts-cubic-metre-as-the-unit
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