media – Metric Views

Don’t expect to see pints of wine in the shops

After the Government published its response to the imperial units consultation in late December 2023, they said that they will add a 568 ml (pint-size) to the list of permitted sizes for wine bottles as well as the new 200 ml size for still wine and the new 500 ml size for sparkling wine. The headlines in the Government press release and in the media suggesting that pint-sized wine bottles will appear in the shops are misleading because it depends on winemakers making them but there has been a lack of interest in making them.

Too many take the easy way out when writing metric symbols

Following the previous article about the limited impact of UKMA’s Metric Style Guide and the widespread mistakes in writing metric symbols, we look at one major source of these mistakes. Too many avoid the use of awkward characters that cannot be found on a standard keyboard and end up writing metric symbols incorrectly.

Metric Style Guide – has it had any effect?

Despite the best efforts of UKMA to promote correct usage, the writing of metric symbols leaves much to be desired. Former UKMA Chair Robin Paice reflects on the impact of the UKMA’s Metric Style Guide since its publication, evaluates other style guides, comments on the teaching of measurement units in schools and makes suggestions for UKMA’s committee to improve the situation.

Who will fight the anti-metric newspapers for the cause of metrication?

One major obstacle to further metrication is that too many politicians are afraid to challenge the prejudices of the anti-metric newspapers. This was seen most recently when Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer suggested that the franchise should be extended to EU citizens living in the UK and to 16- and 17-year-olds and that the UK should develop a closer trading relationship with the EU in response to a threatened exodus of carmakers. After some negative front-page headlines in right-wing newspapers (which tend to be anti-metric) to his suggestions, he quickly backed down.

Major commercial broadcasters use cm only for snowfall

A few days ago, weather forecasters were warning the public about a period of freezing weather and snow. Major British commercial broadcasters’ websites have expressed the levels of snowfall exclusively in centimetres. There has been no use of inches for snowfall in their online weather reports.

Miles beyond transport

Here we will look at some visible displays of miles that are totally unrelated to road transport, the one major area of British life where miles are used across the UK. The images shown in this article demonstrate the enormous influence of British mile-based road signs for speed and distance on British society.

Public opinion opposes aims of REUL Bill

The i newspaper recently published a poll about attitudes to the EU. The poll reveals that rejoining the EU is slightly more popular than staying out of the EU and a lot more prefer a closer relationship to the EU to boost trade with the bloc. Both of these preferences are incompatible with the aims of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. While UKMA has no position on British membership of the EU or on the UK-EU relationship, UKMA opposes the REUL Bill because it threatens a lot of existing weights and measures legislation. REUL aims to scrap or reform all EU-derived laws by the 31 December 2023 deadline, when they expire by default if nothing is done.

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