Inside the Commons

Have you been watching this series on BBC2 on Tuesdays at 9.00 pm? Three programmes have already been broadcast, with the final on due on 24 February. They show the workings of the House of Commons and there are a few surprises, or perhaps not.

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Decimal currency, metric measures and the vanished link

For over a century, the introduction of metric measures in the UK was linked to that of decimal currency. But then, while we were saying farewell to £sd, the situation changed. We follow the story and draw an unsurprising conclusion.

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Has SI delivered?

The fuss about measurement units at the start of this century has overshadowed progress thirty years earlier in education, science and engineering. We look at the benefits that were predicted at the start of the transition to SI and ask if they have been delivered.

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Measurement muddle – a customary feature of Britain

Ronnie Cohen looks at the measurement muddle in the British Isles during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. As our nearest neighbours on the Continent might say, ‘Plus ca change, toujours la meme chose’.

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Vietnam and Cambodia – metric measures taken for granted

John Frewen-Lord follows his article reflecting on his visit to Hong-Kong with another about two of the countries that once formed French Indo-China.

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Hong Kong – Imperial no more

Followers of Metric Views may have noticed that one of our regular contributors, John Frewen-Lord, has just returned from a visit to the far east. In this post, he passes on some observations relating one of the countries he visited.

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Government to clarify law on metric units in advertising

A Government Minister has promised to advise industry bodies that the law requires the use of metric units in all product description and advertising.

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Traffic signs and speed limits to be devolved to Scotland

The Smith Commission on further devolution to Scotland has recommended that speed limits and traffic signs should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
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