Metrication in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
of measurement in place of imperial units in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Proposals that the British people should use a decimal system date back to at least the 1668 paper of John Wilkins
John Wilkins
John Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....
- the earliest known such proposal in history. The adoption of metric units has also been discussed intermittently by Parliament since 1818. A formal policy of metrication started in 1965. As of 2011, metrication in the UK is partial, with imperial units remaining in common and widespread use.
In its accession treaty to the European Economic Community
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
in 1973, the United Kingdom was obliged within five years to incorporate into domestic law all EEC directives including the use of metric units for many purposes. By 1980 most pre-packaged goods were sold by metric measure, but the mandatory use of metric units for packaged goods only took effect in 1995. Mandatory metric measures for goods sold loose or from bulk began in 2000. The use of "supplementary indications" (Imperial units given alongside the metric) was originally permitted for a limited period only, but that period was extended a number of times. In 2007, rather than extend the cut-off date for the use of supplementary units again, the EU announced that supplementary units could be used indefinitely.
As of 2011, imperial units are still used to describe, amongst other things: body measurements, journey distances and vehicle speeds. Vehicle fuel economy is described in terms of "miles per gallon" even though fuel has not been sold in gallons since the early 1980's. The pint
Pint
The pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century...
is used when referring to beer or cider consumption, and in association with milk usage. At school, pupils are taught metric units in subjects, and in mathematics they are also taught "rough metric equivalents of imperial units still in daily use", and conversion between metric and imperial as a mathematical exercise. Metrication has been opposed and even resisted by members of the British public.
Before 1799
When James VI of ScotlandJames I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
inherited the English throne in 1603, England and Scotland had different systems of measure. Superficially the English and the Scots units of measure were similar - many had the same names but there were differences in their sizes: in particular the pint and gallon being more than twice the size of their English counterparts. This situation continued until 1707 when, under the Act of Union, the Parliaments of England and Scotland were merged and the English units of measure became the standard for the United Kingdom.
This period marked the Age of enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
when people started using the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. Britons played their role in the realm of measurement laying down practical and philosophical foundations for a decimal system of measurement which were ultimately to provide the building blocks of the metric system.
One of the earliest decimal measuring devices developed in 1620 by the English clergyman and mathematician Edmund Gunter
Edmund Gunter
Edmund Gunter , English mathematician, of Welsh descent, was born in Hertfordshire in 1581.He was educated at Westminster School, and in 1599 was elected a student of Christ Church, Oxford. He took orders, became a preacher in 1614, and in 1615 proceeded to the degree of bachelor in divinity...
introduced two new units of measure - the chain and the link, and a new measuring device Gunter's chain
Gunter's chain
Gunter's chain is a measuring device used for land survey. It was designed and introduced in 1620 by English clergyman and mathematician Edmund Gunter long before the development of the theodolite and other more sophisticated equipment, enabling plots of land to be accurately surveyed and plotted,...
. Gunter's chain was one chain
Chain (unit)
A chain is a unit of length; it measures 66 feet or 22 yards or 100 links . There are 10 chains in a furlong, and 80 chains in one statute mile. An acre is the area of 10 square chains...
(one tenth of a furlong
Furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....
) in length and consisted of 100 links, making each link 0.001 furlongs. The decimal nature of these units and of the device made it easy to calculate the area of a rectangle of land in acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s and decimals of an acre.
In 1670, John Wilkins
John Wilkins
John Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....
, the first president of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, published his proposal for a decimal system of measure in his work An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language
An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language
An Essay towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language is the best-remembered of the numerous works of John Wilkins, in which he expounds a new universal language, meant primarily to facilitate international communication among scholars, but envisioned for use by diplomats, travelers, and...
. His proposal envisaged a system of units in which the base unit of length was defined by a pendulum that had a period of one second and that the base unit of mass was defined by a cube of rainwater having sides equal to the base unit of length. He recycled the existing names of units of measure so that there were 10 lines in an inch
Inch
An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
, 10 inches in a foot and so on. A century later his concept of defining unit mass in terms of a cube of water with edges of unit length was one of the fundemental concepts of the metric system.
In finding difficulties in liaising with German scientists, the British inventor James Watt
James Watt
James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
, in 1783, called for the creation of a global decimal measurement system. A letter of invitation in 1790 from the French National Assembly to the British Parliament to help create such a system using the length of a pendulum (as proposed by Wilkins) as the base unit of length received the support of the British Parliamt, championed by John Riggs Miller
John Riggs Miller
Sir John Riggs-Miller, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish politician who championed reform of the customary system of weights and measures in favour of a scientifically founded system.-Early life:...
, but when the French overthrew their monarchy and decided to use the meridional definition of the metre as their base unit, Britain withdrew support. The French continued alone and created the foundations of what is now called Système International d'Unités and is the sole measurement system for most of the world.
1799–1945
In 1799 the French adopted the metre and the kilogram as their new units of length and mass. As use of the new system, originally called the "Decimal System", grew through Europe, pressure grew in the UK for decimalisationDecimalization process
Decimalization process refers to the conversion of measurements to a "decimal" system, i.e. one where the all ratios between the different measuring units are powers of ten....
. The issue of decimalisation of measurement was intertwined in the UK with decimalisation of currency. The idea was first discussed by a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
that reported in 1818 and again in Parliament by Sir John Wrottesley
John Wrottesley, 2nd Baron Wrottesley
John Wrottesley, 2nd Baron Wrottesley FRS FRAS was an English astronomer.Wrottesley was the son of John Wrottesley, 1st Baron Wrottesley, and his first wife Lady Caroline Bennet, daughter of Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville. He succeeded his father in the barony on March 16, 1841...
in 1824. Another Royal Commission was set up 1838 by Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
Thomas Spring Rice
Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon
Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon, PC, FRS was a British Whig politician, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1835 to 1839.-Background:...
and it reported in 1841 that decimal coinage was required first. A third commission advocated in 1853 decimal coinage in the form £1
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
: 10 florin
British Two Shilling coin
The British two shilling coin, also known as the florin or "two bob bit" was issued from 1849 until 1967. It was worth one tenth of a pound, or twenty-four old pence...
: 100 cent : 1000 mil. The first florins (one tenth of a pound sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
) were struck in 1849 as silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
coins weighing 11.3 gram
Gram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
s and having a diameter of 28 millimetre
Millimetre
The millimetre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousandth of a metre, which is the SI base unit of length....
s.
In 1854 Wrottesley set up the "Decimal Association" in order to lobby for decimalisation of both measurement and coinage. An early supporter of the Decimal Association was the mathematician Augustus de Morgan
Augustus De Morgan
Augustus De Morgan was a British mathematician and logician. He formulated De Morgan's laws and introduced the term mathematical induction, making its idea rigorous. The crater De Morgan on the Moon is named after him....
whose articles supporting the metric system had been published in the Penny Cyclopeadia (1833) and The Companion to the Almanac (1841). A few days later Wrottesley met with Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
, then Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
, but was unable to win him over to the idea. In 1862, the Select Committee on Weights and Measures favoured the introduction of decimalisation
Decimalisation
Decimal currency is the term used to describe any currency that is based on one basic unit of currency and a sub-unit which is a power of 10, most commonly 100....
to accompany the introduction of metric weights and measures. A further Royal Commission "on the question of the introduction of metric system of weights and measures" also reported in 1869.
In 1863 the House of Commons passed a law by 110 votes to 75 mandating the use of the metric system throughout the Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, but due to lack of parliamentary time the bill was not debated in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
and so did not become law. The following year, after pressure from the astronomers George Airy
George Biddell Airy
Sir George Biddell Airy PRS KCB was an English mathematician and astronomer, Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881...
and Sir John Herschel
John Herschel
Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet KH, FRS ,was an English mathematician, astronomer, chemist, and experimental photographer/inventor, who in some years also did valuable botanical work...
the bill was watered down to merely legalise the use of the metric system in contracts. It was presented and passed as a Private Member's Bill
Private Member's Bill
A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...
. However, ambiguous wording of the 1864 law meant that traders who possessed metric weights and measures were still liable to arrest under Acts 5 and 6 William IV c63.
James Prescott Joule
James Prescott Joule FRS was an English physicist and brewer, born in Salford, Lancashire. Joule studied the nature of heat, and discovered its relationship to mechanical work . This led to the theory of conservation of energy, which led to the development of the first law of thermodynamics. The...
published a paper in which he proved the equivalence of mechanical and thermal energy, a concept that is vital to the metric system - in SI, power
Power (physics)
In physics, power is the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed. For example, the rate at which a light bulb transforms electrical energy into heat and light is measured in watts—the more wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more electrical energy is used per unit...
is measured in watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s and energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
in joule
Joule
The joule ; symbol J) is a derived unit of energy or work in the International System of Units. It is equal to the energy expended in applying a force of one newton through a distance of one metre , or in passing an electric current of one ampere through a resistance of one ohm for one second...
s regardless of whether it is mechanical, electrical or thermal.
In 1861 a committee of the British Association for Advancement of Science (BAAS) including William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin)
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging...
, James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...
and Joule among its members was tasked with investigating the "Standards of Electrical Resistance". In their first report (1862) they laid the ground rules for their work - the metric system was to be used and measures of electrical energy must have the same units as measures of mechanical energy. In the second report (1863) they introduced the concept of a coherent system of units whereby units of length, mass and time were identified as "fundamental units" (now known as base units
SI base unit
The International System of Units defines seven units of measure as a basic set from which all other SI units are derived. These SI base units and their physical quantities are:* metre for length...
). All other units of measure could be derived (hence derived units
SI derived unit
The International System of Units specifies a set of seven base units from which all other units of measurement are formed, by products of the powers of base units. These other units are called SI derived units, for example, the SI derived unit of area is square metre , and of density is...
) from these base units.
In 1873, another committee of the BAAS that also counted Maxwell and Thomson among its members and tasked with "the Selection and Nomenclature of Dynamical and Electrical Units" recommended using the CGS (centimetre-gram-second) system of units
Centimetre gram second system of units
The centimetre–gram–second system is a metric system of physical units based on centimetre as the unit of length, gram as a unit of mass, and second as a unit of time...
. The committee also recommended the names of "dyne
Dyne
In physics, the dyne is a unit of force specified in the centimetre-gram-second system of units, a predecessor of the modern SI. One dyne is equal to exactly 10 µN...
" and "erg
Erg
An erg is the unit of energy and mechanical work in the centimetre-gram-second system of units, symbol "erg". Its name is derived from the Greek ergon, meaning "work"....
" for the CGS units of force and energy. The CGS system became the basis for scientific work for the next seventy years.
In 1875 a British delegation was one of twenty national delegations to a convention in Paris that resulted in seventeen of the nations signing the Metre Convention on 20 May 1875 which resulted in the setting up of the three bodies: the CGPM, CIPM and BIPM that were charged with overseeing weights and measures on behalf of the international community. The United Kingdom was one of the countries that declined to sign the convention. In 1882 the British firm Johnson, Matthey & Co
Johnson Matthey
Johnson Matthey plc is multinational chemicals and precious metals company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
secured an agreement with the French government to supply 30 standard metres and 40 standard kilograms. Two years later the United Kingdom signed the treaty and the following year it was found that the standard yard which had been in use since 1855 had been shrinking at the rate of one part per million every twenty years. In 1889 one of the standard metres and one of the standard kilograms that had been cast by Johnson, Matthey & Co were selected at random as the reference standard and the other standards, having been cross-correlated with each other were distributed to the signatory nations of the treaty.
In 1896 Parliament passed the Weights and Measures (Metric System) Act, legalising metric units for all purposes but not making them compulsory.
The situation was clarified in 1897 following another Select Committee which also recommended that metrication become compulsory by 1899. In 1902, an Empire conference decided that metrication should be compulsory across the British Empire. In 1904, scientist Lord Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging...
led a campaign for metrication and collected 8 million signatures of British subjects. On the opposition side, 1904 saw the establishment of the British Weights and Measures Association for "the purpose of defending and, where practicable, improving the present system of weights and measures". At this time 45% of British exports were to metricated countries. Parliament voted to set up a Select Committee on the matter.
This Select Committee reported in 1907 and a bill was drafted proposing compulsory metrication by 1910, including decimalisation of coinage. The opposition declared that decimalisation of coinage would cost £100m alone.
1945 to 1973
The matter was dropped in the face of wars and depression, and would not be again raised until the 1951 Hudgson Report, the result of yet another Select Committee which unanimously recommended compulsory metrication and currency decimalisation within 10 years. It said "The real problem facing Great Britain is not whether to adhere either to the Imperial or to the metric system, but to maintain two legal systems or to abolish the Imperial." The report also recommended that the change should be done in concert with the CommonwealthCommonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
(former Empire) and the USA. It also pointed out that metric standards were more accurate than Imperial ones, and that the yard and pound should be pegged to definite metric values. This was done by international agreement in 1959 and currently the yard is defined as 0.9144 metres exactly, and the pound as 0.453 592 37 kg exactly. Agreement could not be reached on the pint
Pint
The pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century...
(and gallon
Gallon
The gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...
), and this value still differs between the UK and US (the only countries that maintain legal definitions of these units).
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
and the Confederation of British Industry
Confederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works...
declared their full support for metrication and decimalisation. Currency decimalisation finally took place on Decimal Day
Decimal Day
Decimal Day was the day the United Kingdom and Ireland decimalised their currencies.-Old system:Under the old currency of pounds, shillings and pence, the pound was made up of 240 pence , with 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a...
, 15 February 1971, although £1 did not change in value. The Metrication Board
Metrication Board
The Metrication Board was a non-departmental public body that existed in the United Kingdom to promote and coordinate metrication within the country and prepare the public for the change.-History:...
was set up in 1969. Unlike its South African and Australian counterparts which had mandatory powers, it only had an "advisory, educational and persuasive role". Metric units have been taught in UK schools since the late 1960s (and exclusively since 1974), and certain industries also converted or largely converted decades ago. For example the paper industry converted in 1970, and the construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
industry between 1969 and 1972 – although certain products continue to be produced to with reference to Imperial trade names but made using metric dimensions in the factory; for example, a 13 mm thick plasterboard
Drywall
Drywall, also known as plasterboard, wallboard or gypsum board is a panel made of gypsum plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper...
is still often called 'half-inch', even though the measurement is rounded to a convenient metric size and so is now only approximately half an inch thick.
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
was then unpopular and the opposition Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
revolted on the issue. Examples include these Conservative MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
s' speeches:
- Robert RedmondRobert RedmondRobert Spencer Redmond was a British Conservative Party politician.Redmond was Member of Parliament for Bolton West from 1970 to 1974. In the second general election of that year, he lost the seat to future Labour minister Ann Taylor....
: "When I have travelled abroad and particularly on the Continent, I have noticed that people have on their desks calculating machines while we in Britain do the same sums in our heads." (In 1970 the United Kingdom still used pounds, shillings and pence). - Henry KerbyHenry KerbyHenry Briton Kerby was a British Conservative Member of Parliament for Arundel and Shoreham. He won the seat in a 1954 by-election, and served until his death at the age of 56 in Chichester in 1971. For a time he was associated with the National Fellowship group.Before joining the Conservative...
: "This metric madness, this alien academic nonsense, introduced secretly through the back door by a bunch of cranks and the big business tycoons... and put into clandestine operation." - Carol MatherCarol MatherSir David Carol MacDonnell Mather MC , known as Carol Mather, was a British Army officer and Conservative MP, and senior government whip....
: "I am led to the conclusion that comprehensive universal metrication is a bit of a nonsense... there is a gap between the millimetre and the metre, there is no centimetre.... The kilo is too heavy for the housewife to carry and we know that in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
they use the old system of the pound."
The press reports on the debate, particularly those of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
and The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, were very favourable to the opinions of the Conservatives. Following the debate the projected deadlines for the phased metrication steps were delayed one by one. The original intention of metrication "in concert with the Commonwealth" backfired; Australia, New Zealand and South Africa all completed their metrication processes by 1980, the year that the Metrication Board was abolished as a cost-cutting measure. (In contrast, the situation of metrication in Canada
Metrication in Canada
Canada has converted to the metric system for many purposes but there is still significant use of non-metric units and standards in many sectors of the Canadian economy...
resembles that of the UK, except that all road signs were converted in the 1970s.) The last laws which restricted the sale of metricated goods were only removed in 1995; though it is still illegal to sell draught beer in metric units, which in 2002 led to an Austrian-themed pub being asked to stop selling beer by the half litre traditional German steins.
1973 onwards
Before the UK joined the European Community in 1973, the only units of measure that were legally defined were those used in trade - length, area, volume, "mass or weight" [sic] and electrical units. Scientists and engineers were free to use whatever units they saw fit.When the UK joined the European Community (now the European Union) it was obliged to accept into its national law within five years all EEC directives that were then in force. This included directive 71/354/EEC. This directive catalogued units of measure that might be used and for "economic, public administration, public health or public safety purposes". It also catalogued those units whose use was permitted only until the end of 1977. For many EU countries, these directives meant dropping the local equivalent of the pound in favour of "500 g", but in the case of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland it meant the completion of their metrication programmes
Metrication
Metrication refers to the introduction and use of the SI metric system, the international standard for physical measurements. This has involved a long process of independent and systematic conversions of countries from various local systems of weights and measures. Metrication began in France in...
which in the case of the United Kingdom had been under way since 1965. It also required the United Kingdom to formally define a number of other units of measure including those for electric current (ampere
Ampere
The ampere , often shortened to amp, is the SI unit of electric current and is one of the seven SI base units. It is named after André-Marie Ampère , French mathematician and physicist, considered the father of electrodynamics...
), electric potential difference (volt
Volt
The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
), temperature (degree Celsius and kelvin
Kelvin
The kelvin is a unit of measurement for temperature. It is one of the seven base units in the International System of Units and is assigned the unit symbol K. The Kelvin scale is an absolute, thermodynamic temperature scale using as its null point absolute zero, the temperature at which all...
), pressure (pascal
Pascal (unit)
The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure, internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus and tensile strength, named after the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and philosopher Blaise Pascal. It is a measure of force per unit area, defined as one newton per square metre...
), energy (joule
Joule
The joule ; symbol J) is a derived unit of energy or work in the International System of Units. It is equal to the energy expended in applying a force of one newton through a distance of one metre , or in passing an electric current of one ampere through a resistance of one ohm for one second...
), power (watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
) and so on.
The UK government renegotiated this date, first to 31 December 1989, then 1994, 1999 and 2009. The involvement of the European Commission led metrication to be linked in public debate with euroscepticism
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
, and traditionally eurosceptic parts of the British press have taken a dim view of the process, often exaggerating or inventing the extent of enforced metrication. Example stories include the Daily Star, which on 17 January 2001 claimed that beer would soon have to be sold by the litre in pubs, something not demanded in any EU directive.
The European Union Units of Measurement Directive as amended by Directive 89/617/EEC required the UK government to pass laws in 1994 finally permitting the sale of goods using metric labelling, while permitting dual measurement. Public reaction to these regulations was negative . Such suspicion of externally-imposed change has long traditions; as Philip Grierson notes, the town of Lincoln paid "lavish" fines in 1201 rather than use government-imposed reformed weights and measures. Steve Thoburn applied to the European Court of Human Rights on the basis that his human rights had been violated but the court decided that no violation had occurred. George Gardiner
George Gardiner (politician)
Sir George Arthur Gardiner was a United Kingdom Conservative Party politician and journalist.- Early life :...
of the Federation of Small Businesses
Federation of Small Businesses
The Federation of Small Businesses was formed in 1974 and is the UK's leading business organisation representing small and medium sized businesses.- About the FSB :...
called (without apparent response) for a civil disobedience campaign. In 1999 further laws were brought metricating the sale of, among other things, fresh fruit. The "Metric Martyrs" were shop owners that were fined for refusing to use metric units.
In August 2005, the European Commission announced it would require Britain to set a legal deadline for the completion of metrication. In January 2007 the Department of Trade and Industry announced that "the Government intends to support the continued use of supplementary indications after 2009 for an indefinite period"; on 9 May 2007 European Commission Industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen
Günter Verheugen
-Erler:At around the same time, photographs appeared showing him holidaying with Petra Erler, the head of his private office. A Commission spokesman backed him by saying "the private holidays of Vice President Verheugen in Lithuania this summer did not violate the rules applicable to members of the...
announced that the Commission had dropped its plans to enforce the abolition of Imperial measures from 2010, so that 'supplementary' imperial indications could continue to be used alongside, but not instead of metric units. On 10 September 2007 the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
published a proposed amendment to EU Directive 80/181/EEC that would permit "supplementary indicators" to be used indefinitely.
Legal requirements
Non-metric units, allowed by UK law for economic, public health, public safety or administrative use from 1 January 2000, are limited to:
- the mileMileA mile is a unit of length, most commonly 5,280 feet . The mile of 5,280 feet is sometimes called the statute mile or land mile to distinguish it from the nautical mile...
(1.609 km), yardYardA yard is a unit of length in several different systems including English units, Imperial units and United States customary units. It is equal to 3 feet or 36 inches...
(91.44 cm), foot (30.48 cm) and inchInchAn inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
(2.54 cm) for road traffic signs, distance and speed measurement, - the pintPintThe pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century...
(568 mlLitrepic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...
) for the dispensing of draught beerBeerBeer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
and ciderCiderCider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and America, cider may be termed "apple wine"...
, and for the sale of milkMilkMilk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
in returnable containers,
- the troy ounceTroy ounceThe troy ounce is a unit of imperial measure. In the present day it is most commonly used to gauge the weight of precious metals. One troy ounce is nowadays defined as exactly 0.0311034768 kg = 31.1034768 g. There are approximately 32.1507466 troy oz in 1 kg...
(~31 g) for transaction in precious metals.
Goods and services sold by a description are not covered by weights and measures legislation; thus, a fence panel sold as "6 foot by 6 foot" is legal, as is a 6 x 4 inch photograph frame, but a pole sold with the price described as "50 pence per linear foot", with no accompanying metric price, would be illegal.
There are no plans to change road signs and road speed measurement to metric units. On 23 February 2006 Secretary of State for Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
Alistair Darling
Alistair Darling
Alistair Maclean Darling is a Scottish Labour Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament since 1987, currently for Edinburgh South West. He served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2007 to 2010...
said on the BBC Question Time
Question Time (TV series)
Question Time is a topical debate BBC television programme in the United Kingdom, based on Any Questions?. The show typically features politicians from at least the three major political parties as well as other public figures who answer questions put to them by the audience...
programme that the Government had abandoned its previously long-standing plans to convert the UK's 2 million road signs to metric, due to the cost.
Current usage
Many aspects of life have been metricated either totally or partially; including industry, building, education and some sports such as rugby union. Many remain without visible evidence of metrication where Imperial units are used or even mandated, including road signs, estate agents' advertisements and the non-specialist media. Trade is substantially metric.Weather
Most radio and television weather reports give temperatures in degrees Celsius, sometimes with approximate conversions into degrees Fahrenheit. Snow and rainfall are generally reported in metric units, again sometimes with the inch equivalents, particularly for extreme weather events. Wind speeds are generally given in miles per hour or knots.Wholesale
Many wholesale markets are almost entirely metric: the meat industry trade press quotes prices in metric units, agricultural products are traded by the tonne or the kilogram lot sizes at both the London-based NYSE Euronext Futures and Derivatives market and the London Metal ExchangeLondon Metal Exchange
The London Metal Exchange is the futures exchange with the world's largest market in options, and futures contracts on base and other metals. As the LME offers contracts with daily expiry dates of up to three months from trade date, along with longer-dated contracts up to 123 months, it also...
are denominated in tonnes rather than imperial units, but others such as the oil industry use US dollars per barrels (42 US gallons/158.99 litres).
Retail
There is a legal distinction between- price marking - in general - where a unit is used as part of the price calculation (e.g. £1 per kg), it must be metric. Other units are permitted subject to a few constraints.
- container labels - in general - where a unit is used to indicate container size, it must be metric. Other units are permitted subject to a few constraints.
- container (or delivery) size - in general - where a unit is used to indicate container size, it must be metric. Other units are permitted subject to a few constraints.
Groceries
While several food items continue to be packaged and sold in sizes based on Imperial units, many now display only the uneven metric equivalent value on the label (such as 454 or 907 grams for 1- or 2-pound packages). Items include jam, marmalade, honey, dates, strawberries, sausages, beefburgers
Hamburger
A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
, fresh coffee, malt vinegar, and Christmas puddings.
Major supermarket chains continue to sell own-labelled cow's milk in 1-, 2-, 4- and 6-pint plastic bottles with the uneven metric equivalent value always shown before the Imperial volume (if that is shown at all). However these same chains sell own-labelled other milks (goat milk, buffalo milk etc) plus most of the dairy-labelled cow's milk in litre-based units, and have been doing so for many years. However, they are gradually introducing more litre-based bottles (e.g. 1, 2, 3 litres) under their own label as well. In other shops, such as newsagents and convenience stores, milk is usually sold only in litre-based units.
In May 2011 the Asda supermarket chain stated that consumer research had shown that 70% of their customers found metric confusing and would prefer products to be labelled in imperial units. As a result, they were beginning to experiment with selling certain produce in round imperial measures again. In 2000, the Tesco supermarket chain began selling produce in imperial, stating that their survey of 1,000 customers had shown that 90% of their customers "still used imperial measures in their heads". Tesco's use of imperial units over metric, with prices per pound displayed more prominently that those per kilo, was identified in a 2004 Which? magazine report criticising supermarket pricing tactics, as a possible means of appearing cheaper than its rivals.
Alcohol
In the United Kingdom, draught beer and cider are the only goods that may not be sold in metric units; the only legal measures for these drinks when sold on draught are pint (190 ml) (rarely encountered), pint (284 ml) and multiples of the latter. Bottled and canned beer is most often sold in 250ml, 330ml, 440ml and 500ml containers, the uneven metric 568ml (1 pint) containers are becoming rare now.
Cosmetics
Cosmetics and toiletries are often labelled both in metric units (grams or millilitres) and US customary units (ounces or US fluid ounce
Fluid ounce
A fluid ounce is a unit of volume equal to about 28.4 mL in the imperial system or about 29.6 mL in the US system. The fluid ounce is distinct from the ounce, which measures mass...
s); this is standard practice throughout the world for goods intended for importation to the US, where dual labelling is compulsory. The US fluid ounce is 4% larger than its imperial counterpart (29.6 ml as against 28.4 ml).
Clothes
Clothing is usually sold and marketed in inches and UK sizes, with the centimetre dimensions and continental size increasingly shown alongside the Imperial, with equal prominence. Shoes are most often seen with traditional British sizes (though the Paris point
Paris point
The Paris point is a unit of length defined as ⅔ of a centimetre . It is commonly used as shoe sizes in Continental Europe....
sizes (exclusively) are not rare).
Consumer electronics
Dual measures are often seen in the home entertainment and computer markets, for describing television, digital camera and monitor screen sizes. (The imperial size given for CRT
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
s is typically that of the tube, whereas the metric measure – tagged 'vcm' – is that of the visible screen excluding the bezel
Bezel
Bezel may refer to:* Bezel setting, or bezel, the rim which encompasses and fastens a jewel, watch crystal, lens or other object* The sloping facets of the crown of a cut gem such as in diamond cutting...
). Products that may appear to be Imperial are actually manufactured to metric specifications, using metric drawings and made on metric machines, even if references to Imperial units persist in some areas.
Education
Since 1974, the metric system has been the primary system of measurement taught in schools. In the National Curriculum for England, metric is the principal system of measurement and calculation. However, pupils are expected to know how to convert between metric and imperial units still in everday use, specifically citing "pounds, feet, miles, pints and gallons", and conversion between the two systems is given as an example of numerical problems students should be able to solve.National Health Service
On 25 February 2010, concern was expressed in the House of Lords that 30% of scales used in National Health Service hospitals and facilities for weighing patients were switchable between metric and imperial units and that 10% were permanently set to imperial units. Since drug doses are worked out using patients' weights in kilograms, the use of Imperial or switchable scales risks giving the patient the wrong dose. The Government announced it was taking steps to remedy this situation and insist that all NHS facilities complied with the requirement that all weighing scales were properly calibrated and maintained and displayed only metric units.Public administration
The civil serviceCivil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
is bound by law to follow EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
directives relating to public administration.
Mapping
The first Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
maps with metric values and scales to be produced were the large scale maps which were required by the construction industry following its committment to metrication, and were introduced from 1969 onwards. A metric National Grid was used as the basis for maps published by the Ordnance Survey since World War II. A metric grid was used by War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
maps from 1920 onwards.
News media
Journalists are not bound by any legal requirements over use of measurement systems and newspapers styles vary. While The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
prefer metric units in most circumstances, and provide exceptions where imperial units are preferred, they differ on some details. The Times specifies that heights and weights put Imperial measures first while the Guardians examples are from metric to Imperial. Similarly, while both The Guardian and The Times give first place to hectares, the Guardian prefers square kilometres (with square miles in brackets) while the Times prefers square miles. Both retain the preference for the mile in expressing distances. In contrast, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
stylebook uses "imperial measures except where for accuracy's sake - as in some scientific or foreign story, or one detailing the calibre of armaments - metric is appropriate." The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
prefers metric units for "most non-American contexts," except for the United States section where "you may use the more familiar measurements." However, The Economist also specifies "you should give an equivalent, on first use, in the other units".
Road system
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
are regulated by Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) which specifies the design and the units of measure for the signs. Distance signs are specified with miles or yards as the allowable units, height limit and width limit signs are specified to use feet and inches with metres allowed as optional supplementary indicators and vehicle length signs allow just feet and inches. Weight limits are expressed in tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s and the legislation permits either "t" (the SI
International System of Units
The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a system of units of measurement devised around seven base units and the convenience of the number ten. The older metric system included several groups of units...
symbol for tonnes) or "T" (clashing with the SI symbol for teslas to be used as the abbreviation for "tonnes" on road signs. Speed limits are in miles per hour with no units shown on the signs. Advance-warning signs display distances in miles often using the character "m" as an abbreviation (clashing with the SI use of "m" as the symbol for metre. When SI units are used, such as metre on height and width restriction signs if the optional metric-measurement is given, the SI symbol "m" is correctly used.
Advance-warning signs for road works and other temporary road obstructions are generally positioned at multiples of 100 metres from the feature to which they refer, with the distances indicated in yards - to the nearest 100 yards (which is within the 10% tolerance allowed) in order to comply with the TSRGD requirement for yards to be used on such road signs.
In TSRGD 1994 the legislation included the allowance of metric units as "supplementary indications" for many (but not all) height limit warning and prohibition signs. Schedules 16.1 and 16.2 of the TSRGD 2002 catalogue the signs that may display metric units in addition to imperial units: maximum headroom warning signs and height, width and length prohibition signs. In late 2009 and early 2010, the DfT proposed modifying the legislation to make it mandatory to use dual units signs for height and width limit warning and restriction signs, as it was believed that this would reduce bridge strikes. The analysis noted that
"approximately 10–12% of bridge strikes involved foreign lorries. This is disproportionately high in terms of the number of foreign lorries on the road network."
As of September 2011, no legislation resulting from that part of the consultation that deals with metric signs has been put to Parliament.
Since the late 1960s, British roads have been designed using metric units. Location marker posts are erected at 100-metre intervals on the hard shoulder giving the distance from a notional reference point in kilometres to enable maintenance workers, emergency service
Emergency service
Emergency services are organizations which ensure public safety and health by addressing different emergencies. Some agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies whilst others deal with ad hoc emergencies as part of their normal responsibilities...
s and the like to pinpoint specific points on the motorway. The digits on these posts were barely visible to motorists. This number was also encoded into the emergency phones that could be used by stranded motorists. The advent of the mobile phone meant that the location of motorists could no longer be pinpointed by reference to the emergency telephone that they were using. To enable such motorists to communicate with the emergency services, driver location signs
Driver location signs
Driver location signs are English highway route markers, first introduced in 2003, that complement distance marker posts. Both types of marker post display the distances from a nominal start point in kilometres...
were erected at approximately 500-metre intervals in England during the period 2007 to 2010. These signs replicate the distances shown on the smaller location marker posts though no units are shown, but don't appear (yet) on Welsh motorways.
Motor vehicles
Motor fuel has been retailed in litres since the 1980s with news media commonly referring to fuel prices in pounds-per-gallon. Fuel consumption is still commonly quoted in miles-per-imperial gallon. Legislation requires that the offical fuel economy guide from which advertisers may quote must catalogue "fuel consumption ... in [either] litres per 100 kilometres (l/100km) or kilometres per litre (km/l), and quoted to one decimal place, or, to the extent compatible with the provisions of Council Directive 80/181/EEC ... in miles per gallon".Almost all motor vehicles first used on public roads on or after 1 April 1984 are required to have speedometers fitted which can display speeds in both miles per hour and kilometres per hour (simultaneously or separately).
Metric units (kW for power, km/h for speed, kg for weight and cc for engince capacity) are used in legislation relating to driving licences.
Rail transport
An 1845 Act of Parliament fixed British rail gaugeRail gauge
Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
s at 4 ft 8½ in and Irish rail gauges at 5 ft 3 in. The 4 ft 8½ in gauge was the basis of 60 % of the world's railways, but is expressed as 1435 mm (including the United Kingdom) - a decrease of 0.1 mm, but well within the engineering tolerances. The Irish 5 ft 3 in gauge is now referred to as a 1600 mm gauge – the difference between the metric and imperial values being 0.2 mm, again well within engineering tolerances.
Metric units are used throughout for engineering purposes and rolling stock is designed using metric units as it is required to meet the loading gauge requirements
Loading gauge
A loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures...
. (The British loading gauge is specific to Britain). However, track distances of most of Britain’s rail network are shown in miles and chains and speeds and speed limits are in miles per hour, though metric units are used on the London Underground, Channel Tunnel Rail Link, Tyne and Wear Metro
Tyne and Wear Metro
The Tyne and Wear Metro, also known as the Metro, is a light rail system in North East England, serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside and Sunderland. It opened in 1980 and in 2007–2008 provided 40 million public journeys on its network of nearly...
, and Croydon metro
Tramlink
Tramlink is a tramway system in south London in the United Kingdom which began operation in May 2000...
.
Air and shipping
Aviation uses the foot for aircraft altitude and both aviation and shipping use nautical mileNautical mile
The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...
s and knots for distance and speed respectively.
Industry
The metric system is now used in the majority of industries. The coopers'Cooper (profession)
Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden staved vessels of a conical form, of greater length than breadth, bound together with hoops and possessing flat ends or heads...
trade is one of the exceptions to this rule. The print industry works with a wide variety of measurements, including paper size, thickness and weight, typographical measurements, pitch and size of holes, which may be imperial, metric or other.
Advocacy groups
A number of advocacy groups exist to promote the metric system at the expense of the imperial system and vice versa. The groups include (in alphabetic order):- Active Resistance to MetricationActive Resistance to MetricationActive Resistance to Metrication is a British pressure group, founded in June 2001 opposed to metrication in the United Kingdom. ARM state that their current membership is "in the dozens"....
, founded by euroscepticEuroScepticEuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
politician Tony BennettAnthony Bennett (English politician)Anthony John Stuart Bennett is an English politician and campaigner. He was a member of the British political party Veritas and was listed on the database of the Electoral Commission as official leader for three days, before the real leader was revealed as Robert Kilroy-Silk.In 2006, he began a...
is best known for their direct action campaign to tackle the "mushrooming of illegal metric road and footpath signs erected by various local and other authorises, including the Highway Agency".
- The British Weights and Measures AssociationBritish Weights and Measures AssociationThe current British Weights and Measures Association, or BWMA, is a pressure group established in the United Kingdom in 1995, founded by Vivian Linacre....
campaigns for the retention of imperial measurements in the United Kingdom.
- The UK Metric AssociationUK Metric AssociationThe UK Metric Association, or UKMA, is an advocacy group in the United Kingdom that argues for completion of the British metrication programme and helps to educate the general public about the metric system...
campaigns for the complete replacement of the imperial measurement system with the metric system in the United Kingdom.
Costs
The costs of metrication in the UK have not been reliably calculated. True scientific calculations of the potential costs have been fairly rare, and tend to refer to specific proposals.A 2005 report pointed to the metrication of the UK's 2 million road signs as the major cost of completing the United Kingdom's metrication program. The Department for Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
(DfT) costed the replacement of all of the United Kingdom's road signs in a short space of time at between £565 million and £644 million In 2008–09, before the outcome of the consultations that led to the EU directive 2009/3/EC was known, the DfT had a contingency of £746 million for the metrication of roads signs. In contrast, the United Kingdom Metrication Association
UK Metric Association
The UK Metric Association, or UKMA, is an advocacy group in the United Kingdom that argues for completion of the British metrication programme and helps to educate the general public about the metric system...
, in a report published in 2006 and using a model based on the Irish road sign metrication program estimated the cost of converting road signs to be £80 million, spread over 5 years (or about 0.25% of the annual roads budget).
A 1970s study by the UK chemical industry estimated costs at £6m over seven years, or 0.25% of expected capital investment over the change period. Other estimates ranged from 0.04% of a large company's turnover spread over seven years to 2% of a small company's turnover for a single year. Many companies reproted recouping their costs within a year as a result of improved production.
Some 90% of UK exports go to metric countries (as only Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, Burma and the United States have not adopted the International System of Units
International System of Units
The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a system of units of measurement devised around seven base units and the convenience of the number ten. The older metric system included several groups of units...
), and there are costs to business of maintaining two production lines (one for exports to the US in Imperial, and the other for domestic sales and exports to the rest of the world in metric). These have been estimated at 3% of annual turnover by the Institute of Production Engineers, and at £1100 million (1980) per annum by the CBI
Confederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works...
. Regardless of UK metrication, goods produced in the UK for export to the US would have still been labelled in non-metric units to comply with the US Fair Packaging and Labelling Act.
External links
- UK Government Department of Trade and Industry (policy statement)
- British Weights and Measures Association (against the compulsory use of the metric system)
- UK metric association (supports a complete changeover to metric)