2010 Metric Laws - Kill or cure?

I'll openly admit right here that where metrication is concerned, I'm a big fan and if the UK government announced tomorrow that the last vestiges of Imperial measurement were to be dropped in the UK I'd be one of the first to celebrate. Unfortunatly, the powers that be seem to be going about it all the wrong way.

Here is the problem. Over the last few years there has been a groundswell of opposition to anything pushed our way by the EU... helped along mainly by The Sun and The Daily Mail. It's an unfortunate side effect of this that people believe that our conversion to the metric system has been somehow forced upon us by Brussels when in fact we've been converting to metric for over 150 years and the last major push was made before we joined the EU - the only thing being asked of us by Brussels is to finish what we started, which in my opinion isn't too much to ask.

So to the title. As of January 1st 2010 it will be illegal under EU law to buy or sell anything across international or internal EU borders which is not marked exclusively in metric. Laws have already been drawn up and approved by parliament which, with a few notable exceptions, will actually outlaw the use of imperial measures in the UK. Here's what will happen:

• Any goods to be traded anywhere within the UK wether it be bread, sausages, fuel, TV's or carpets, will have to be labeled, priced and marketed in metric units. Current practice of selling milk in 0.568 litre cartons will be allowed, but printing "1 Pint" will become illegal.

Now this in itself will not be a problem. What, however, will confuse and annoy is the exceptions to the rules:

• Miles, yards, feet and inches will still be legal for road signage.
• Pints will still be legal for draught beer and cider.
• Pints will still be legal for milk provided it is supplied in returnable containers (i.e. bottles for doorstep deliveries).
• Acres will still be legal for land registration.
• Troy Ounces will still be legal for trading in precious metals.

The interesting thing here is that it will be impossible to compare prices of pints of beer and milk in the pubs and on the doorstep with the prices of the same goods in the supermarkets and off-licenses without a calculator and some mathematical knowledge. Similar problems are already occuring with road safety as motor manufacturers print car handbooks with vehicle sizes in metric with no imperial convertions yet height and widht limit road signs are only legally required to be in feet and inches!

Even more troubling is that the law has already changed to restrict the way some goods are sold and yet the law is being ignored and trading standards offices are not enforcing the laws. Market stalls and shops still give prominence to imperial weights on their shelves and displays. At least one American fast food chain still sells soft drinks in Fluid Ounces although this has actually been illegal since January 1st 2000!

I'm no lawyer and I could be wrong but my interpretation of the law is that on 1 January 2010 it will be illegal to sell carpet in yards. It will be illegal to sell houses with measurements in feet and inches. It will be illegal so sell a TV which shows a screen size in inches. It will even be illegal to show fuel consumption figures for new cars in Miles per gallon! Now personally I don't believe this to be a bad thing, but the public needs to be warned. Not in 2009 with just a few months to go, but now. Our schools should be concentrating on making sure children are ready. Broadcasters should be encouraged to use metric as much as possible and stop giving imperial conversions. Estate agents should be told to get their act together and market properties in square metres.

Unfortunatly, it would seem the weeks and months leading to the end of 2009 will be fairly quiet on this subject. January 1 2010 will come and there will be bad feeling from a public who will once again feel they've been stomped on by Brussels. It's also unfortunate that the already damaged reputation of the EU will also suffer further from this and all of it will happen to the pleasure of not only the anti-metric campaigners, but also the Europhobes.

So let me make a plea to the government:

1. Tell the public about the Units of Measurements regulations and point out that we're not metricating because of Europe.
   
2. Do something about our road signage.
   
3. Let pubs and milkmen sell in metric if they want to.
4. Start enforcing the existing laws!

Only when these things happen will we be able to bring the UK finally into the 20th century... then perhaps we can start to set our sights on the 21st!

References:
The Weights and Measures (Metrication Amendments) Regulations 2001
The Units of Measurement Regulations 1995
The Units of Measurement Regulations 1994