The British Government once developed and examined proposals to change all UK speed limit signs from miles per hour to kilometres per hour in the 1960’s and in 1970. On 9 December 1970, the Minister for Transport Industries John Peyton announced that the proposed metrication of speed limit signs would not go ahead and was postponed indefinitely. The proposed change to metric speed limits was due to be implemented in 1973. Fifty years have now passed since then. Half a century later, UK speed limit signs are still in imperial units. The Department for Transport (DfT) now claims that metricating UK road signs costs too much. However, it would have cost little to convert all UK road signs to metric units according to cost estimates by the Department of the Environment (DoE), which had responsibility for transport at the time, according to historical government documents held at the National Archives.
Continue reading “Government cost estimates to convert all UK speed limit signs to km/h in 1970 were far below £30 million in today’s money”Tag: proposals
No government response one year after imperial units consultation closed
Today is one year since the “Choice on units of measurement: markings and sales” consultation closed. It is about Government proposals to remove the requirement to show metric units alongside imperial units in trade or allow metric units to be shown with less prominence than imperial units. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published this consultation on 3 June 2022. It ran from 9am on 3 June 2022 to 11pm on 26 August 2022. The Government’s own Consultation Principles state that Government responses to consultations should be published within 12 weeks of the consultation or provide an explanation why this is not possible. The response to the consultation was due on 18 November 2022, 12 weeks after the consultation closed. Today is 26 August 2023 and we are still waiting for it. Why is it taking the Government so long to respond to the consultation?
Continue reading “No government response one year after imperial units consultation closed”The other victory UKMA won in the end
The previous article describes how weights and measures legislation was saved from the axe by changes to the REUL Bill. There was another important victory that has also been won by UKMA with the help of powerful stakeholders though it took years to win. UKMA spent years fighting the Department for Transport before the battle to make metres mandatory on restriction signs was eventually won.
Continue reading “The other victory UKMA won in the end”Make another U-turn – scrap imperial measures proposals
The Government has recently made several U-turns on economic policy. They are not averse to making U-turns when it becomes politically convenient. The government is committed to dropping the requirement to show metric units alongside imperial units in some or all areas. UKMA is demanding that the Government makes a U-turn on this policy and scraps these imperial measures proposals. There is a way out where they can save face and avoid embarrassment and humiliation.
Continue reading “Make another U-turn – scrap imperial measures proposals”Imperial Red Meat policy won’t save the Conservatives
The Government’s imperial measurement proposals seem to be part of their Operation Red Meat proposals to get Conservative MPs and supporters back on side. They were initially used to try to save former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and then used by the final two candidates in the Conservative leadership contest, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, to gain support from Conservative Party members to win the Conservative leadership contest and become the next Prime Minister.
Continue reading “Imperial Red Meat policy won’t save the Conservatives”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”Anti-imperial petition tops 1600 signatures
A popular anti-imperial petition on the official parliamentary petitions website has attracted a large number of signatures and is still growing fast. It opposes the Government’s recent imperial-only measurements proposals for trade.
Continue reading “Anti-imperial petition tops 1600 signatures”London speed limits make front page news
Ronnie Cohen, one of our regular contributors, wonders why it will be easy to find the cash to reduce speed limits in London but has been impossible to convert them to metric.
Progress at last on vehicle dimension signs
The 2016 traffic sign regulations banning new imperial-only vehicle dimension signs were laid before Parliament on 23 March 2016 and came into force on 22 April. Ronnie Cohen looks at the chequered history of this commonsense reform.
Continue reading “Progress at last on vehicle dimension signs”
Metric Views 