Reintroducing Imperial measures…..

I voted Remain because it was a no brainer Cunco, not "without giving it a second thought"

The fact that you think there might be a United States of Europe and that this was enough to make you vote to leave, confirms that you really didn't understand the situation at all. We didn't have to convince you about the merits of a USE because there isn't going to be one.

I'm not going to stereotype you but I'm not going to validate your disastrous misunderstanding of the EU project either.

While Canada is officially metric, we follow a very odd mixture of imperial/metric in our everyday lives. Stores advertise produce in both measurements, with imperial prominent on the signs. A lot of produce is procured in the States so come in imperial sized packages. Butter is sold in blocks of 454 gr, but cups are marked on the sides for baking purposes.

Travel distances are all in metric, but you still buy lumber in 2 x 4 x 8 sizes. A quick look at the flyer at the hardware store shows a 7'x 7' shed on sale, as well as a 3.8 litre toilet.

Somehow we manage to understand it all, but I'm glad I'm not a teacher! I really think that we should fully embrace metric, which would mean forcing vendors to advertise in metric only.

Wouldn't want to see our government going back to allowing imperial only, it would be a step backwards to me.

Urmstongran

^while every other child in the EU would learn two foreign languages^ I beg to differ there ElderlyPerson as here in Malaga I know personally of 3 Spanish families who want their children to learn to speak English (universal, so handy!) and they have to pay €60 a month for private lessons.

English is compulsory in every secondary school in Spain, so it's likely the children of these families aren't very good learners or they want to be able to speak the language beyond the level required in school.

I have made a decision about you based on your talk of a "United States of Europe" Cunco.

It is very common for children in Spain to attend language schools and sit Cambridge exams. The school day ends at about 2pm and they go to language school in the afternoon / early evening. Some of the teaching in schools is dire in schools and my bilingual grandchildren frequently get work marked as wrong, when it is correct.
The standard of teaching of English in schools can be be pretty variable here in France too.
My son has taught in language schools in Spain for more than 25 years and I frequently get asked to coach pupils here in France. As in the UK there are shortages of good language teachers, especially out of the big cities.

.... delete one of the in schools as applicable ?.

I'm one of the lazy ones ! I never got to grips with metric measurements either.

It’s a bit of a jump from the reintroduction of the crown symbol on a pint glass to outrage at a “return to Imperial measures” - not to mention rods, poles and perches .
However it was all a bit of a farce wasn’t it when a Sunderland market trader’s scales were seized for an apparent trading offence. I can understand why many felt this was bureaucracy gone mad. To recall-
On 4 July in 2000, two trading standards officers, accompanied by two police officers, marched up to Steve Thoburn’s busy market stall in Sunderland. He was threatened with arrest if he did not hand over his three sets of imperial scales after an undercover “consumer protection exercise” had confirmed that he was selling bananas by the pound.
Perhaps the police had less to keep them busy in those days?

English is compulsory in every secondary school in Spain, so it's likely the children of these families aren't very good learners or they want to be able to speak the language beyond the level required in school

I think Mamie has provided a perfectly reasonable alternative scenario without accusing anybody’s children of being poor learners.

I will try to deal with questions raised from my comment. I hadn't been stereotyped on this thread until perhaps my use of the term United States of Europe caused one person to make a judgement. In the past, though, after the Referendum, it was commonplace and when I tried to shift the discussion to the future of the EU, people did not want to talk about the subject.

The aim has always been to create a political, economic and social union. It was back in 1975 when joining the EEC was sold as the common market. Later in 2000, people close to the EU project also knew that while much of the discussion about the euro was economic, the political purpose was to create a permanent union from which there was no way back. In political terms, it has been a success; in economic terms, some of the claims for a single currency have been absent. Of course, the UK is not part of the Eurozone but prominent Remainers like Major and Hestletine have said that ultimately, we must join to have a central role rather than be a semi-detached member. Blair's government said it was right in principle to join 'when the time is right'.

After we voted Leave, the EC announced it would have a root and branch look at where it was going before announcing, to the surprise of nobody, that it would proceed towards the union. If you know exactly what the shape of that union will be, you have a better crystal ball than I do. I use the term United States of Europe not because I see it as a replica of the United States of America but a single currency is a common component from which economic experts agree, a form of economic union must follow. The credit crunch illustrated the extra difficulties endured by a single currency without a single authority and legal frame work for banks and without a unified economic policy.

I am not entirely naive on this subject. I recognise there are two points of view but I do not believe we can say how it will end up politically or economically. To me, it was a judgement call between a rock and a hard place. I do not regret my decision.

He was threatened with arrest if he did not hand over his three sets of imperial scales after an undercover “consumer protection exercise” had confirmed that he was selling bananas by the pound.

That is the pertinent part of the story. It is illegal to use imperial scales. You can call the quantities you buy/sell anything you like but you have to use metric scales. Shop scales are inspected from time to time to ensure that they are accurate. This is to protect the consumer; to ensure that they are not being sold short measure. (That is the function of the line on beer glasses, too). The Sunderland guy was prosecuted for using the wrong scales. I'm prepared to bet that the Trading Standards people (or whoever deals with this) had given him several warnings before they actually took action. I'm sure that he, (and many others), regarded himself as some sort of martyr to the cause of 'Britishness'.

Weights and measures have been legislated for over 100s of years

Read all about it:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weights_and_Measures_Acts_(UK)

Zoejory

*Why on earth should we want to go back and cause extra work on conversions?*

Totally agree. But that isn't what's allegedly going to happen. They are just removing the legal requirement to use metric.

I don’t think some posters are all that interested in what will actually happen Zoe ....as you say, it’s just another Brexit and government bashing chance.? They never tire of it, so why spoil their fun.

maddyone am stopping your 1/9d pocket money?

Cunco

I will try to deal with questions raised from my comment. I hadn't been stereotyped on this thread until perhaps my use of the term United States of Europe caused one person to make a judgement. In the past, though, after the Referendum, it was commonplace and when I tried to shift the discussion to the future of the EU, people did not want to talk about the subject.

The aim has always been to create a political, economic and social union. It was back in 1975 when joining the EEC was sold as the common market. Later in 2000, people close to the EU project also knew that while much of the discussion about the euro was economic, the political purpose was to create a permanent union from which there was no way back. In political terms, it has been a success; in economic terms, some of the claims for a single currency have been absent. Of course, the UK is not part of the Eurozone but prominent Remainers like Major and Hestletine have said that ultimately, we must join to have a central role rather than be a semi-detached member. Blair's government said it was right in principle to join 'when the time is right'.

After we voted Leave, the EC announced it would have a root and branch look at where it was going before announcing, to the surprise of nobody, that it would proceed towards the union. If you know exactly what the shape of that union will be, you have a better crystal ball than I do. I use the term United States of Europe not because I see it as a replica of the United States of America but a single currency is a common component from which economic experts agree, a form of economic union must follow. The credit crunch illustrated the extra difficulties endured by a single currency without a single authority and legal frame work for banks and without a unified economic policy.

I am not entirely naive on this subject. I recognise there are two points of view but I do not believe we can say how it will end up politically or economically. To me, it was a judgement call between a rock and a hard place. I do not regret my decision.

To stereotype someone means to attribute qualities to them based on beliefs that they belong to a certain group or type of people, so the stereotype is often unfair. I, however, am judging you on what you write.

With that in mind, I will assert that unjustified paranoia is not a valid basis for making political decisions, whether you regret it or not.

Alegrias1

Look what I found. Thank you Mr Google.

In the mid 1960s, British industry and the government were concerned about our continued use of old-fashioned (non-decimal) currency and measurement units. The government decided to reform both currency and measurement units, announcing its intention to convert to metric in 1965. This was at a time when accession to the European Economic Community (EEC) seemed very remote. The UK joined the EEC in 1973 along with Ireland and Denmark.

ukma.org.uk/why-metric/myths/british-metrication/#britain-forced

This is a point I was going make: We were taught in metric well before joining the EU.

(I did my A levels in 1972 and we learnt both, but mainly metric.)

Can we have the ‘shake & vac’ advert back too!
Yay!

Well, if the experience of 50 years and acceptance that we cannot be sure about the future is unjustified paranoia, it's a new one on me. It's certainly the first time I have been accused and summarily found guilty on that score. I will voluntarily sentence myself to a GN ban. I leave you with the Remain doctrine. Not word about our future in the EU but designed to divide while claiming to unify. It would be good now if we could remain open minded and tolerate people with different views to our own.

I tolerate people who have different views to my own, all the time, provided they are based on actual truth.

I don't tolerate people who brought this disaster upon our heads because they think there's going to be a United States of Europe, because they are deluded, no matter how they try to pretend they know the truth and the rest of us don't.

Just an addition to the post about language schools - my bilingual granddaughter in Spain attends an Academy after school for English lessons. The Cambridge exams are the gold standard.

MayBeMaw

^English is compulsory in every secondary school in Spain, so it's likely the children of these families aren't very good learners or they want to be able to speak the language beyond the level required in school^

I think Mamie has provided a perfectly reasonable alternative scenario without accusing anybody’s children of being poor learners.

Who "accused" anybody of anything? Maybe you'd like to rethink your use of that word. Describing and accusing aren't the same.

We seem to have been pretty well ahead on this topic on GN, ahead of most of the press. Now they are in on it more information is appearing. I understand it has never been illegal to use pounds and ounces in the uk, but since 1995 by law shop keepers have had to show metric units and imperial units cannot be displayed more prominently than metric.

Seems a bit of a storm in a teacup. Personally I am happy to go back to imperial, but it will find its own level between what shopkeepers want and what the majority of customers want. I can imagine a shop keeper being kind to an elderly oap who doesn’t understand but then they are probably doing that anyway.

As for the beer glasses with the crown on great but we aren’t going to chuck all the 1 pint glasses away which we get free from the brewery. The breweries will get new ones manufactured with the crown on if they think it’s good advertising.

Idky people are getting so het up about it.

I doubt it’ll make much difference - younger people all think in metric, at least that’s my experience. Dds of over 40 certainly do.

Being relatively ancient, I still think in Imperial, so e.g. 100g in a recipe converts at once in my head to (roughly) 4 oz. Ditto with temperature - 16 deg C converts to 61 F etc. And 10 cm to roughly 4 inches, etc.

This person is getting het up about it because the government knows that by promoting what they are doing as standing up for Britishness, using our measures and not those Napoleonic ones, they are pandering to people who think that Europe is the evil empire.

The Napoleonic thing is a quote from our Glorious Leader BTW, not me being sarcastic.

I had a discussion with my DGD about how we used to measure things the other day. We went through pounds, shillings and pence (including half-crowns), discussed feet and inches then briefly pounds, ounces and stones. At which point she exclaimed "That's crazy!". And I have to agree with her.

25Avalon if you read upthread you will see that I (and others) have explained that imperial measures were always acceptable when alongside metric.

I see no reason to change this but the "new" idea is apparently to make it legal to only use imperial. I think you will find that's what people think is a backwards step and not very helpful. That's certainly my feeling.
I would like to be able to see easily comparable costs of say, apples, on market stalls or supermarket shelves.

There is enough trickery and sleight of hand in pricing of goods per item or by weight as it is! Don't get me started!

Alegrias1 Boris is doing what he said he would do in his election manifesto.