Dear Mrs Bell, I am surprised that a progressive newspaper like the Guardian, even its European edition, uses nothing but British Imperial units in its covering of mainland European news. I know, for instance, that until a few years ago the weather forecasts in the European edition were in degrees Fahrenheit, although that scale is not used in mainland Europe. Maps of metric nations have scales in miles only; the covering of the Tour de France is in Imperial units every year.Tour de France and Imperial units are a totally inappropriate combination. This was part of an article on the euro yesterday: to "A question of national identity" from the Guardian Newsservice: "It will be a very good thing on holiday," said Steve Troeuer, a Belgian builder, withdrawing his first euros in Riemst, a non-descript village five miles from the Dutch border. - (Guardian Service)". Wrong! The text could have read as follows: "Riemst, a non-descript village close to the Dutch border". Why this unnecessary '5 miles'? Riemst is 8 km from the Dutch border, and there are no signposts in miles either! In fact, to me this superimposition of British units on mainland European countries is revolting. I was very pleased about the changeover to the euro, but a changeover in mainland Europe from metric to Imperial... the mere thought of it makes me shudder and I would resist it as long as possible. All this indiscriminate Imperial newscovering makes English speaking people believe that the whole world uses or ought to use Imperial units. I was in an Eurolines coach a few years ago, travelling from Dublin via London to Amsterdam on its last leg. We approached the Belgian/Dutch border. Behind me sat some young Britons. The coach passed a sign saying 'Breda 40', meaning of course, 'Breda 40 km'. One of these young British thought and said that we were 40 miles from Breda! I told him that it was 40 km, but I left the conversion to him. I do not see why I should accommodate Imperial users on metric territory. One of the reasons must have been the Imperial covering of mainland Europe by almost all British newspapers. It also proves that what they learned at school - the metric system - has been totally forgotten. And it is more proof of the widespread 'Euro-scepsis' in Britain, among the old and the young. I would request that the Guardian uses measuring units in its covering according to the country where the news comes from, metric where metric, Imperial where Imperial is appropriate.
Yours faithfully, H. Maenen, The Netherlands [EMAIL PROTECTED]
