Yesterday, the National Audit Office (NAO) criticised the UK Department for Transport (DfT) for its unfounded claims about the benefits of the proposed high speed rail project HS2. In this article, Ronnie Cohen identifies another unfounded claim by the DfT – one that relates to the change to metric units on road signs.
Joules – rare but minor progress for metrication
After many recent setbacks, it is pleasing to report a small but significant bit of progress in the long campaign to make the metric system (SI) the default system of measurement in the UK. This minor (but perhaps somewhat pyrrhic) victory concerns front-of-pack (FOP) labelling.
Continue reading “Joules – rare but minor progress for metrication”
A statement from UKIP
UKIP’s recent electoral successes have resulted, quite rightly, in increased scrutiny of its policies. Here, we take a look at a recent statement by the Party’s Trade spokesman on the subject of measurement units.
It’s trade or bust for Britain
This is the title of a recent article by Robert Peston, the BBC’s Business Editor. Clearly, successive UK governments over the years have failed to steer the country away from the latter and towards the former. We suggest a simple step that would help.
Familiar with imperial? Do you know that…?
Miles, yards, feet and inches, pints, pounds and stones. Yes, fifty years after the UK embarked on the metric transition, we still need to be familiar with some of those old units. In this article, Ronnie Cohen looks at some of the less well known and largely forgotten features of the imperial system.
Continue reading “Familiar with imperial? Do you know that…?”
The Grand National’s unhelpful measurements
The race has been run. Pictures and commentary have been broadcast around the world, and millions will have formed an impression of Britain in 2013. Ronnie Cohen asks if more could have been made of this opportunity to publicise UK plc.
Continue reading “The Grand National’s unhelpful measurements”
Why is it important to weigh ourselves in kg?
The measurement mess in Britain is in itself reason enough for the discontinued use of stones and pounds for personal body mass (commonly weight), but is there a case for using kilograms that goes beyond this?
This article proposes that there are possible implications for those trying to lose or maintain weight from a poor choice of measurement units.
Continue reading “Why is it important to weigh ourselves in kg?”
The 1895 Select Committee on weights and measures
This article looks back to the findings and recommendations of the 1895 Parliamentary Select Committee on weights and measures.
Continue reading “The 1895 Select Committee on weights and measures”
How US labelling requirements undermine honest labelling in the UK
On EU product labels, metric units are mandatory whereas non-metric units are optional. On US product labels, both metric and US customary (USC) units are mandatory for most products. So a company that wants to sell a product in the EU and the US must use metric and USC on the label unless it produces separate labels for the two markets.
Continue reading “How US labelling requirements undermine honest labelling in the UK”
Will EU-US trade agreement bring in metric-only labelling in the US?
A key point of President Obama’s State of the Union address on 13 February was the proposed EU-US trade agreement, which has been under preliminary discussion for the past year. (See http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/13/state-of-the-union-free-trade-europe). As this agreement is supposed to remove regulatory barriers to trade, there should now be a serious opportunity to remove the US ban on metric-only labelling of most packages.
Continue reading “Will EU-US trade agreement bring in metric-only labelling in the US?”
