Over twenty years ago, a group of market traders were prosecuted for using imperial measures (without showing the equivalent in metric units) and using unauthorised scales that could only measure in imperial units. Newspapers called this group the Metric Martyrs after Chris Howell, then weights and measures spokesman for the Institute of Trading Standards Administration (today the Trading Standards Institute), said that they could martyr themselves if they wanted to. As Ministers are thinking about allowing traders to choose imperial or metric units, we look at what is wrong with the Metric Martyrs’ arguments for freedom of choice in measurement usage.
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How imperial units survey design flaws could have been fixed
The Government ran the “Choice on units of measurement: markings and sales” consultation from 3 June 2022 to 26 August 2022. The survey that accompanied the consultation received over 100 000 responses. According to Government guidelines (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consultation-principles-guidance), a response should have been published by 18 November, 12 weeks after the closing date. This article explains what was wrong with the survey questions and how the survey could have been improved.
Continue reading “How imperial units survey design flaws could have been fixed”How to respond to imperial-only measurement proposals
The Government has published its “Choice on units of measurement: markings and sales” consultation document about their plans to remove the requirement for traders to show the metric equivalent alongside imperial units.
Continue reading “How to respond to imperial-only measurement proposals”Deficits, the global measurement system and global trade
In this article, Ronnie Cohen looks at the deficits of some major economies and asks if apparent reluctance to use the global measurement system is a symptom of a wider problem – adapting to a changed world.
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Global Britain or Imperial isolation?
On 29 March, Sir Tim Barrow, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the European Union, handed a signed six-page letter from the British Prime Minister to the President of the European Council, invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and confirming the UK’s intention to leave the EU. So where do we go from here?
An anniversary for the US Metric Conversion Act
The 1975 Metric Conversion Act (MCA) was signed into law by President Gerald Ford on December 23, 1975. To mark the 40th anniversary of this event, Ronnie Cohen looks at the introduction of the Act and its effect on metrication in the USA.
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Metric Views 