The UK wants to recover sales in imperial units

As part of a review of the rules obtained from the European Union, the British government wants to drop the metric system in stores and supermarkets in favor of imperialist units.

No more grams and kilos, make way for ounces and pounds. The British government announced this week its intention to amend thousands of European rules as Brexit is now in effect. BBC. Starting with abandoning the metric system in order to return to the imperial units.

Under EU law, traders are required to display the weight of their goods in grams and kilograms. The use of ounces (1 ounce = 28 grams) or pounds (1 pound = 454 grams) was allowed to the British, but only on the condition that metric measurements were equally visible to consumers.

A restriction that has not been accepted by some traders across the channel has long been considered. In 2001, one of them was accused of selling bananas using only imperialist measures. Shortly afterwards, the association “Martyrs of the Metric System” was formed.

Opposition parties have stated they will not run in the by-elections

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already mentioned in an interview that the re-establishment of the imperialist system is detrimental to the metric system. Daily Mail In 2019: “We will bring back this old freedom. I see no reason to prosecute the people (for using only the imperialist system),” he said.

The announcement by the British government this week caused dissatisfaction from the labor opposition, accusing it of being ‘not in touch’ with voter preferences because Britain had been facing shortages for weeks, with more goods than labor, as well as inflation at a level not seen in nine years.

“How do you cut to worrying about metric measurements in stores, workers (…) and can you put food on the table?” Rainer, vice-president of the Labor Party.

Another opposition politician, Jesse Phillips, echoed the reassurance that the substance of the proceedings was far from the main concerns of the British: “As a Member of Parliament no one has ever raised this issue with me. Never!” She smirked. For his part, Stephen Flynn, SNP MP for the Scottish Freedom Party, called on the government to focus on providing “food on the shelves”.

“Capitalize the freedoms offered by Brexit”

Downing Street defended itself against opposition attacks on Friday, saying “pounds and ounces are easy to understand and already widely used units of measurement.” The prime minister’s spokesman recalled that the abandonment of the metric system was “only a small part of a broader government campaign aimed at establishing the right regulatory environment to support jobs and growth in the state.”

Brexit Minister David Frost said the move toward the imperialist system would be part of a broader change aimed at “capitalizing on the freedoms offered by Brexit”.

“Dictatorship rules are often designed and approved in Brussels regardless of the British national interest. The opportunity for us to do things differently now and the Brexit freedoms will ensure that businesses and citizens succeed,” he added.

The extensive British campaign to amend European rules actually provided for changes in laws in various areas, such as clinical trials, artificial intelligence and data processing. Instead of referring to the European “EU”, it should again be allowed to print the crown seal on beer cans.