Pounds & ounces is weigh forward..
Old units return in Jubilee ‘Brexit booster’
BORIS Johnson plans to announce that imperial measurements will be revived for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The Prime Minister is expected to say that British shops will once again be allowed to sell products in pounds and ounces.
Government insiders said ministers are making an announcement on “imperial measures” this Friday.
Downing Street hopes it will shore up support among Brexiteers in battleground seats.
The PM is under growing pressure after Partygate, with a steady trickle of Tory MPS handing in letters to try to trigger a confidence vote.
But while the move represents a victory for “metric martyrs”, it is a largely symbolic one to address gripes about EU interference in traditional English life.
Since 2000, when the EU weights and measures directive came into force, traders have been legally required to use metric units. While it’s still legal to price goods in pounds and ounces, they have to be displayed alongside the price in grams and kilograms.
Metric units are not expected to be scrapped, but traders are likely to be free to choose which they use. During the 2019 general election campaign, Boris Johnson pledged he would bring back imperial units in shops.
He claimed that measuring in pounds and ounces was an “ancient liberty”.
Sunderland grocer Steven Thoburn became known as a “metric martyr” when he waged a three-year legal battle after being prosecuted for selling in pounds and ounces on his market stall in 2001.
The dispute stemmed from the sale of a bunch of bananas worth 34p. Neil Herron, who has campaigned for the metric martyrs for 20 years, said it was a “big moment” for the cause.
He said: “The first thing we have to do is to change the law, then there’s a natural progression that we can push forward with a pardon.”
Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “Small businesses can measure the difference a Labour government would make in pounds and pence with our plan to cut taxes for pubs, cafes and shops.”