Found the following letters at http://www.sunderland-echo.co.uk. There are others supporting Mr T, but they are fairly predictable and have been given plenty of publicity, so here are alternative views: >Bewildered by ounces > > UNTIL now, I have held back from writing to the Echo about the >so-called Metric > Martyr. The Letters Page Extra in the Echo certainly changed that. > Having struggled to understand the repeated objections to Steve >Thoburn's > prosecution, I have also found myself becoming increasingly frustrated >by the > right-wing xenophobes who choose to use the case to falsely illustrate >Brussels > "bureaucracy" and criticise "President" Blair. It was not Tony Blair >who introduced > the metric system, but Edward Heath, a former Conservative Prime >Minister. > Aside from my annoyance at such anti-European bigotry, the >technicalities of the > case and issues surrounding it seem to have been deliberately ignored. > Throughout my time at school, I learned nothing but the metric system, >and I > remain to be completely bewildered by pounds and ounces. If we teach >children > the metric system, why have we prevented them from using it in the >past? > It is also my understanding that Steve Thoburn was not prosecuted for >selling > goods in pounds and ounces, but because his scales did not have the >capacity to > also sell in metric measures and as a result of his refusal to display >prices in > metric measures as well as imperial ones. > Far from being a Metric Martyr, I perceive Steve Thoburn as being a >glory-seeking > individual whose actions were not at all admirable, but in fact >stubborn in the > extreme. His actions discriminate against people like myself who have >little > comprehension of imperial measures, and I am glad that the city >council chose to > prosecute him. > > Bridget Phillipson, > Barmston Close, > Washington >Don't halt progress > > OH, please, Echo Letters, I beseech you! Please keep > printing those whingeing, hysterical letters bemoaning > the failure of the Metric Martyr's campaign. > The Thursday, April 19, selection of letters gave me the > best laugh I have had in positively ages, particularly the > ones from our more barking-mad brethren who > presumably wrote to the Echo in felt-tip, as they had to > be kept well away from sharp implements. > Reading these letters, anyone would think jack-booted > EU stormtroopers would soon be goose-stepping > towards Parliament to impose their will on us any day > now. > Nobody would dream that it was simply a matter of two > market traders having to obey the same weights and > measures laws that shops and stores have had to for > years now, or indeed, that until 2009, and possibly > beyond, they can still serve their customers in pounds > and ounces with dual scales. > Remember the way we used to be lectured by > right-whingers about the TUC carthorse? How > old-fashioned union policy was holding back a thrusting, > dynamic Britain? Who are the carthorses now? > After being inspired by the Metric Martyr's campaign, I > have decided to start a campaign of my own. It is a > protest against the way our great British products have > been renamed to suit the European market. Who can > forget the way our Marathon bar was changed to > Snickers, our Opal Fruits changed to Starburst or more > recently, how Jif was changed to Cif? > I object to the cavalier way our country has run > roughshod over the wishes of the British people to > pander to the whims of the EU commissars on this > matter and hope everyone will back my campaign to > bring back the traditional British names to these > products. > After all, I feel my campaign cannot fail. Like the Metric > Martyr's campaign, it is anti-European, stupid, useless, > totally pointless and utterly irrelevant. It should therefore > go down a storm with much of the great British public, > who obviously prefers inane stupidity to robust common > sense. > > Stephen Davis, > Doxford Park, > Sunderland >Right-wing takeover > I FULLY agree with J. Pringle (Echo, April 12) that > Steven Thoburn's support from the right-wing alliance of > the UK Independence Party, the Tory Party and most of > the right-wing Tory press, alienated moderate-minded > citizens from supporting his campaign. This episode was > yet another attack on Britain's membership of the EU. > What is clearly emerging is the true "something for > nothing society"; people of privilege, whose only > contribution to the well-being of this country is a selfish, > self-preservation that they now see threatened by a > democratic, united continent geared to the welfare of all > and not just their pathetic privy society sharing secret > confidences. The Economic League, Freemasonry and > the old school tie, for example. The same society that > condones an envelope stuffed with dirty money, yet had > the audacity to call decent people, unemployed through > no fault of their own, "social security scroungers". > Pupils who have left school during the past 10 years and > more have been taught the metric system of weights and > measures. > Fred Brady, > Hall Farm, > Sunderland -- UK Metrication Association: http://www.metric.org.uk/
