http://www.torontosun.com/2016/08/31/first-brexit-now-brits-want-to-leave-the-metric-system
Like the U.S., metric has gone too far to turn back in practice.
Postmedia Network
First posted: Wednesday, August 31, 2016 01:05 PM EDT | Updated:
Wednesday, August 31, 2016 01:20 PM EDT
Buoyed by Brexit, SOME Britons are now lobbying hard to reverse another
perceived national mistake. They want to ditch the metric system and
re-implement pounds and inches like the British Empire of old. The British
Weights and Measures Association has been receiving requests from
shopkeepers who want to ditch the use of metric measurements when selling
groceries and other goods, the Telegraph newspaper reported this week.
The group, which advocates against the metric system, said it suspected
that this was just "the tip of a much bigger iceberg" of people hoping to
make the move back to the imperial system. Some politicians are on side,
too.
"That is one of those things that can be implemented now so that when we
actually pull out it is a smooth process," Peter Bone, an MP for the
ruling Conservatives, said.
Polling company YouGov released a survey that appeared to show that 45% of
Britons favoured selling produce in imperial measurements. And some have
already started.
Gratton's Butchers in Devon began selling meat in pounds and ounces almost
immediately after the referendum. "It seems like in north Devon everyone's
for it," Darren Gratton told the Sun newspaper. "I think it will be better
for local farmers."
Britain has been using the metric system for decades, but it's never been
fully implemented. Road signs still show distances in miles, weight is
still commonly referred to in "stone," and British pubs -- of course --
still pull pints, not half litres
_______________________________________________
USMA mailing list
USMA@colostate.edu
https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma
