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Original poster

So it turns out most people prefer Metric measurements after all. And they will stay

115 replies

cakeorwine · 27/12/2023 07:05

Metric measurement rules to stay after Brexit review - BBC News

The rules were initially copied over after Brexit, but Boris Johnson's government subsequently announced they would be reviewed as part of a plans to "capitalise on the benefits of Brexit".
The then-prime minister pledged to change the rules ahead of the 2019 election, calling imperial measurements an "ancient liberty" and adding he saw "no reason why people should be prosecuted" for using them.
But the government has now said it will not change the rules, after 98.7% of respondents to a consultation favoured using metric as the main measurement unit for sales, as now, or as the only unit.

We will however be able to buy wine in pint sized bottles so I guess that will be the headline elsewhere.

Pints of wine will soon hit Britain's shelves in post-Brexit win | Politics | News | Express.co.uk

I am glad that metric is going to stay as the main measurement.

Woman buying vegetables at a market

Metric measurement rules to stay after Brexit review

But the government has announced it will move away from EU-era rules on wine bottle sizes in shops.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67795075

OP posts:
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SutWytTi · 27/12/2023 07:12

The idea we were ever going to revert to imperial was nonsense.

I use imperial when chatting but when I'm making something I use metric for accuracy. Imperial is a bit like local slang - we like it but we know it isn't the formal way.

As if manufacturers were going to switch Hmm. They'd have had to build UK-specific weighing/measuring machines etc., and nothing could be imported as parts.

Original poster
cakeorwine · 27/12/2023 07:12

The Guardian has a different perspective on the pint of wine

Pint of wine anyone? UK looks to bring back ‘silly measure’ | Food & drink industry | The Guardian

The size of a standard bottle of wine is 750ml, enough for six small glasses. Half bottles at 375ml are common, and still wine may legally be sold in the UK at 500ml – meaning the new pint measure would represent a difference of 68ml.

Pint of wine anyone? UK looks to bring back ‘silly measure’

Winemakers question plan as government champions Brexit ‘freedom’ to allow old-fashioned size

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/27/pint-of-wine-anyone-uk-looks-to-bring-back-silly-measure

OP posts:
Comtesse · 27/12/2023 07:18

Take back control indeed. What nonsense this was ever a serious policy idea.

OP posts:
Original poster
cakeorwine · 27/12/2023 07:23

From the consultation

Overall preference Number of responses Percentage of responses
Status quo (keep metric as primary unit of measurement) 81,867 (81.1%)
More choice (open to increased use of imperial measures) 870 (0.9%)
Purely metric (completely metric system) 17,798 (17.6%)
Purely imperial (completely imperial system) 403 (0.4%)
Total 100,938 100%

So a lot of responses and overwhelmingly to keep metric

OP posts:
AvengedQuince · 27/12/2023 07:24

I don't see the point of a pint of wine, it doesn't divide up evenly into glasses

PuttingDownRoots · 27/12/2023 07:24

Weve always been able to buy our milk and beer in pints... they just had to put the ml on as well. Dont think anyone is bothered by anything else...

We never had to change our road signs, which is our other big use of imperial.

So what really was the point?

Tlolljs · 27/12/2023 07:27

It’s having both that’s the issue. If we stuck hard with metric we’d be over this by now. It’s trying to convert that gives everyone a headache.

Funderthighs · 27/12/2023 07:32

I was taught in metric measurements at school but have never used them in everyday life. No one consulted me. When & how did the consultation take place?

BouleBaker · 27/12/2023 07:36

The government published it on their website. Some newspapers publicised it and I think I did it when I saw it being talked about on Facebook.

SinnerBoy · 27/12/2023 07:39

My daughter's weight was given in lb and kg, in 2013. There's no prohibition on imperial units, it's just that the weight also needs to be defined in metric.

The Metric Martyrs were plain silly, because they refused point blank to display the prices in metric units as well, despite warnings. Fair enough, a lot of their older customers wanted their goods in lb & oz, which nobody was preventing.

I know my weight in stone and understand pints and miles, but I'd rather not go back to grains & drachms, poles, perches & chains and quarts and bushels!

PickAChew · 27/12/2023 07:40

Pint bottles of wine will be the perfect excuse for shrinkflation because you can guarantee the price won't shrink proportionately.

PuttingDownRoots · 27/12/2023 07:41

Maybe we should go back to pre decimal currency too...

Clawdy · 27/12/2023 07:43

I always say pint of milk, walking two miles, baby weighs seven pounds, someone is six feet tall.....just me?

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 27/12/2023 07:43

A pint of wine is just an opportunity for retailers to sell a smaller quantity for a proportionally higher amount because if a full bottle of wine is £7.50 then a pint should be £5.68 but instead they will make it £6 and pocket the extra pennies. Having said that it is probably only the UK who will be a market for the wine so there will be extra production costs involved.

Glad they have stuck with metric.

PieAndLattes · 27/12/2023 07:45

Who the fuck wants a pint of British wine? Every other country in the world uses 750ml bottles. Are British wineries hoping to export pints for the novelty value?

Loonancy · 27/12/2023 07:47

Unbelievable nonsense from the government.
just pandering to the worst kind of Daily Mail reader.
i doubt many wine producers will want another sizing option…logistically and cost-wise a daft idea

but shows that for some people this is a priority.

SinnerBoy · 27/12/2023 07:49

Yes, Jacob Rees-Mogg is desperate to reintroduce imperial measures, the oddball. Perhaps he'd like to have his dividends in Sovereigns?

Iwantmyoldnameback · 27/12/2023 07:50

But as very little wine is produced in the UK most wine will still be imported and therefore nothing will change.

TurquoiseSeasAndSilverSand · 27/12/2023 07:51

Thank fuck for that. I'm in my 50s, I was taught in metric and then went out into the real word, where it was a ridiculous mishmash. I've never been secure in how many ounces to a pound etc and I trained in a job which relies on metric measurements.
In hospital last week I gave my height in cm and the much (much!) younger nurse converted to feet and inches! We should have completely ditched imperial long ago, it's a nonsense system.
As for a pint of wine though, I wouldn't mind a 500ml bottle, it would cut down our consumption.

HeraSyndulla · 27/12/2023 07:54

We still use imperial measurements, just look at the Speedo on your car or any street sign plus you can buy milk in pints and beer is served in a pint jug. Ppl’s height and weight are frequently quoted in Imperial, I don’t know anybody who says they are 1.83 metres tall. Personally I use both and Fahrenheit.

Unescorted · 27/12/2023 07:55

But as very little wine is produced in the UK most wine will still be imported and therefore nothing will change

Quite. That is Brexit summed up nicely.

notprincehamlet · 27/12/2023 08:02
alexander armstrong hwd GIF by Harborne Web Design Ltd

Everything the Tories have touched is in crisis and they're choosing to spend their time and our money on imposing retrograde working practices on Civil Servants and pints of wine?? Do they have any policies that don't originate from the Daily Mail comments section and aren't thrown together on the back of a cigarette packet?

SinnerBoy · 27/12/2023 08:03

12 million bottles were produced last year, with about 850,000 exported (mostly sparkling). That's a 130% increase over five years, with product expected to increase significantly in the future.

BrimfulOfMash · 27/12/2023 08:05

I am old enough to have been taught in imperial at school, and have my Mum’s recipes in imperial.

I was extremely irritated by this consultation, which cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to run, and I did contribute my view that it would be stupid, expensive and impractical to revert to imperial.

That Boris even initiated this consultation is a signal of how unfit to govern he ever was.

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