On 16 June 2021, the government published a set of proposals from the independent “Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform” (TIGRR). These proposals aim to reduce regulation of British businesses, thereby providing them with an advantage over foreign competitors.
Continue reading “Retrograde step proposed for retail trade”Tag: metrication
The UK’s metric conversion – a comedy of errors?
Ronnie Cohen looks at the story of the UK’s metric changeover during the half century following the establishment of the Metrication Board in the late 1960s. If any other country needs a lesson in how not to do the job, this is it.
Continue reading “The UK’s metric conversion – a comedy of errors?”Decimal changeover lessons
Following on from last week’s informative article about the UK’s introduction of decimal currency, we look at some of the features contributing to that success and draw comparisons with the changeover to metric measures.
Continue reading “Decimal changeover lessons”Progress on metrication of the British rail network
Ronnie Cohen passes on an update on this topic that he has recently received from the UK Department for Transport.
Continue reading “Progress on metrication of the British rail network”Early parliamentary debates on metrication
Hansard provides many insights about the ideals of and the prevailing attitudes to metrication. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see where the actual course of events has fallen short of those ideals and the mistakes that got us into the current measurement muddle.
Continue reading “Early parliamentary debates on metrication”Not a blunder
We take a look at the changeover to decimal currency which occurred almost 50 years ago, and ask if there are any lessons to be learned that will help resolve the UK’s current measurement muddle.
Continue reading “Not a blunder”
Think metric – don’t convert
The editor remembers this slogan from his time in the UK construction industry in the early 1970’s. Almost half a century later, Ronnie Cohen gives real-world examples of metric quantities that may help those who are not as familiar with metric units as they might wish.
Read it before?
Ronnie Cohen, one of our regular contributors, compliments the UK Department for Transport (DfT) on its policy for dealing with enquiries relating to the oft-postponed metric changeover.
