Today's S Telegraph Column from C Booker: > > A sense of ounces > > ANOTHER market trader will tomorrow be in >court under > the EU's metrication laws. Sutton borough >council in > Surrey refuses to renew Peter Collins's >market stall > licence because he declines to sell fruit >and veg in weights > that he says his customers do not >understand. > > Mr Collins's claim is borne out by a new >survey > commissioned from ICM by Britain's largest >advertising > agency, Abbot Mead Vickers BBDO. This shows >that 70 > per cent of the British people, including a >majority of > 18-to-24-year-olds, can make sense of >weights "only in > pounds and ounces". > > While 51 per cent of the London >middle-classes say they > are "at home with kilograms", of the >Northern working > class only 18 per cent say they have "any >real > understanding of kilos". > > Interestingly, while 39 per cent of men >claim to be > "confident in kilos", when put to the test >only two thirds of > those got the calculations right; whereas, >while only 20 > per cent of women say they are at home with >kilos, in > practice 27 per cent of them come up with >the right > answers. If those Sutton magistrates really >want to know > why Mr Collins insists on selling tomatoes >in "lbs" they > should consult the ICM report. -- Chris KEENAN UK Metrication Association: http://www.metric.org.uk/ UK Correspondent, US Metric Association
