----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Humphreys" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 10:46 AM Subject: [USMA:37763] Re: [off-topic] Re: UK metric debate in the House of Lords
> [... snip...] > > Although an interesting idea I really don't think Mrs Thatcher kept imperial > on the roads for the reasons you mention. > Whose government brought in Liter priced petrol pump? > [... snip ...] I remember seeing Mrs Thatcher on television in 1979 announcing "We have saved the pint and the mile for Britain" (or words to that effect). While I might have agreed with some of her policies, her Euroscepticism was an embarrassment, especially when I was visiting my Dutch relations. The litre petrol pumps were brought in at the request of the petrol industry when petrol was about £1.50 per gallon, because they knew that most pumps could only handle £1.999 per unit measurement and they had a gallon/litre switch built in. However the Government got that conversion wrong - the price of 2-star petrol was displayed in large figures for both gallons and litres for many years while the price of 4-star was not displayed at all. They would have done much better to have displayed the price of both 2-star and 4-star in large digits per litre and small digits per gallon. The small price would have been under the "2-star" of the "4-star" symbol. (If US readers do not understand what I am talking about, please visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4230444.stm. The "2-star" and "4-star" symbols appear in the red, green and blue blocks alongside the prices). That would have had the dual purpose of educating people while still ensuring that there was no profiteering.
