Now that’s a Brexit boost: Tories to axe the EU ban on pounds and ounces
TWO decades on from the war of the Metric Martyrs, Britain’s ban on selling goods in pounds and ounces is set to be scrapped.
Ministers plan a bonfire of red tape imposed by Brussels, with a review of all EU laws that remain on the statute book following Brexit.
This includes restrictions on selling goods solely in imperial measurements.
The vow ‘to amend, to replace, or to repeal’ EU laws that do not benefit the British public could pave the way for market traders to advertise the weights of their wares as they wish. Sadly, the Metric Martyrs’ victory comes too late for Steve Thoburn, the greengrocer whose legal battle over a 34p bunch of bananas went all the way to the House of Lords.
Mr Thoburn died in 2004 while still battling to reverse his prosecution for breaching the Weights and Measures Act.
Amid the row, Boris Johnson – then editor of the Spectator magazine – wrote: ‘Why are we coercing Britons to use the measurements of Napoleon, when the imperial system survives and flourishes in America, the most successful economy on Earth?
‘It is monstrous that little tinpot “metrologists”... should be fanning out across the country, threatening shopkeepers.’
After becoming Prime Minister, Mr Johnson said of using the imperial system: ‘We will bring back that ancient liberty. People understand what a pound of apples is. There will be an era of generosity and tolerance towards traditional measurements.’ Proposals
that would see those rights enshrined in law could also affect everything from glassware to genetically edited crops.
Ministers hope to take advantage of new technologies such as self-driving cars and drones by re-examining rules imposed by Brussels. The Government is also preparing to lift the ban on geneediting in agriculture, which could help farmers to increase their crop yields and protect their livestock from disease.
Brexit minister Lord Frost told peers yesterday: ‘Our intention is eventually to amend, to replace, or to repeal all that retained EU law that is not right for the UK.’
A government document setting out more details stated: ‘We will remove the EU-derived prohibition on printing the Crown Stamp on pint glasses and allowing publicans and restaurants to voluntarily embrace this important symbol on their glassware, should they choose to do so.’
It said there will also be a review of ‘the EU ban on markings and sales in imperial units’ with plans to ‘legislate in due course’. Weighexceptions ing and selling goods only in imperial measures became a criminal offence in 2000 after the Government complied with European directives on metrication.
Mr Thoburn fell foul of the law and saw his imperial scales confiscated. He was given a six-month conditional discharge in 2001.
The only products afforded are milk, draught beer or cider (sold in pints) and precious metals (weighed by troy ounce). Retailers are permitted to display imperial measurements alongside metric, but this ‘cannot stand out more than the metric measurement’.
Similarly, the Crown Stamp on pint glasses was jettisoned in favour of CE, which stands for ‘conformité européenne’ or European conformity. The crown had been in use for more than 300 years, having been introduced in 1699 to prevent publicans from short-changing drinkers by using smaller glasses.
Lord Frost said many inherited EU laws reflected ‘unsatisfactory compromises’ between member states and did not have sufficient ‘democratic scrutiny in the UK’.
He added: ‘From rules on data storage to the ability of businesses to develop new green technologies, overbearing regulations were often conceived and agreed in Brussels with little consideration of the UK national interest.
‘We now have the opportunity to do things differently and ensure that Brexit freedoms are used to help businesses and citizens get on and succeed.
‘[This] is just the beginning. The Government will go further and faster to create a competitive, high-standards regulatory environment which supports innovation and growth across the UK as we build back better from the pandemic.’
Lord Frost said he expected the reforms would also lead to an overhaul of EU rules for financial services, data protection and medical testing.
The Government plans to establish a new commission which will allow the public themselves to identify additional opportunities for scrapping or reforming outdated regulations.
‘Overbearing regulations’