Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

'Imperial should be ditched in favor of metric in time for Olympics' (UK: old "lib" Tory)
Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 6:20AM BST 16 May 2012 | Tim Ross, Political Correspondent

Posted on 05/26/2012 9:44:14 PM PDT by Olog-hai

Miles, pints and ounces should be abandoned in favor of a fully metric system because visitors to the Olympics will think Britain is living in its “imperial past”, a former Tory chancellor has said.

Lord Howe of Aberavon, who served in Baroness Thatcher’s cabinet, called on ministers to end the “deeply confusing shambles” of using a mixture of metric and imperial measures.

He said the lack of any attempt by the Government to clarify the arrangements was the “most glaring omission” from the Queen’s Speech.

During debate on the speech in the House of Lords, he said: “Weights and measures are in a mess. Liters for petrol and fizzy drinks, pints for beer and milk, meters and kilometers for athletics and the Ordnance Survey, miles per gallon for cars, the metric system for school, still pounds and ounces for the market. …"…

Lord Howe said he was responsible for metrication as consumer affairs minister in the early 1970s, while as a “penny-saving chancellor of the exchequer” from 1979, he had readily accepted the abolition of the Metrication Board.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: englishsystem; imperialvsmetric; liberalconservative; lordhowe; unitedkingdom
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-58 next last
The number 12 is especially important to British—and indeed Judeo-Christian—history. The number 10 is more closely associated with the Roman Empire (where did the word "decimate" come from, after all) . . . more conservatives in name only.
1 posted on 05/26/2012 9:44:24 PM PDT by Olog-hai
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai

Much better than living in Europe’s non-existant future.


2 posted on 05/26/2012 9:46:54 PM PDT by eclecticEel (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 7/4/1776 - 3/21/2010)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai

I think even mexico uses feet, inches, and miles.


3 posted on 05/26/2012 9:53:13 PM PDT by mamelukesabre
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mamelukesabre
I think even mexico uses feet, inches, and miles.

Can't say about feet and inches. But their "mile posts" are in kilometers.

4 posted on 05/26/2012 10:00:27 PM PDT by okie01
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai
If you have an IQ over room temperature, it's not an issue. I've traveled in the UK and Europe. Speed limits and speedometers are labeled consistently. Temperatures take a little consideration if you're accustomed to Fahrenheit and the thermometers are displaying Celsius. No big deal. I'm more put off by linguistic constructs such as "Exxon have decided to raise prices" and "We will have cloud this weekend". It seems a mismatch of singular/plural subjects and verb conjugations. It's Brit English vs American English.
5 posted on 05/26/2012 10:01:43 PM PDT by Myrddin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Myrddin

If you have an IQ over room temperature
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fahrenheit or centigrade?


6 posted on 05/26/2012 10:09:05 PM PDT by mamelukesabre
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai
Livy, re Romulus:

He surrounded himself with greater state, and in particular he called into his service twelve lictors. Some think that he fixed upon this number from the number of the birds who foretold his sovereignty; but I am inclined to agree with those who think that as this class of public officers was borrowed from the same people from whom the "sella curulis" and the "toga praetexta" were adopted- their neighbours, the Etruscans-so the number itself also was taken from them.

7 posted on 05/26/2012 10:11:23 PM PDT by dr_lew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai

I find it a good mental math discipline and exercise to think in both metric and imperial terms. I don’t mind it a bit. Shut down imperial measure and they’ll be selling us ten eggs for the same price as today’s dozen.


8 posted on 05/26/2012 10:13:13 PM PDT by Praxeologue
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mamelukesabre
Heh. How about Kelvins versus Rankines?
9 posted on 05/26/2012 10:17:26 PM PDT by Olog-hai
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Kennard

What really stuns me is how many kids these days do not know what 12 times 12 is and have never heard of a “gross”...and look at you funny if you ask for a half dozen of something or a dozen and a half.


10 posted on 05/26/2012 10:17:47 PM PDT by mamelukesabre
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai

They can ditch everything else and I won’t care, but they better damn well keep their hands off my pints!

Especially when it comes to good Irish stout.


11 posted on 05/26/2012 10:19:24 PM PDT by Ronin (Dumb, dependent and Democrat is no way to go through life - Rep. L. Gohmert, Tex)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai

An englishman embarrassed of being english?


12 posted on 05/26/2012 10:19:49 PM PDT by marron
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: marron

Yeah, unheard of, right?


13 posted on 05/26/2012 10:20:25 PM PDT by Olog-hai
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai

One real problem - people who think in metric have real problems with fractions.


14 posted on 05/26/2012 10:29:08 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai

Today I grappled with TORX designations, which are not measurements per se. I had a TORX 20, which was way too small for the screws on the rear light fixture which the owners manual helpfully instructed me to “remove”. I used some Play-Doh to make an impression of the head, and found the sizes on the internet. It seemed that the TORX 30 was close, at .216 “ to the ~7/32” I measured with my calipers on the Play-Doh impression. It so happened that my wife was on this mission, and she came back with a 5 piece TORX set, of which the largest was a TORX 30. Fortunately, this was the correct tool, and I derived great satisfaction from my efforts.

So anyway, I trust Great Britain is not burdened with TORX. ( They do work nicely, though! )


15 posted on 05/26/2012 10:30:39 PM PDT by dr_lew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Myrddin

I’ve got a strange mix of units I feel comfortable with. Miles, yards, feet and inches, but then I switch to millimeters, microns and nanometers because of a couple jobs which did a lot of small measurements in metric. A mil (0.001 inches) always means 25.4 microns to me. For radio bands I figure wavelengths in meters, but always think of those as “big yards” when doing anything practical with them. Fahrenheit is for temperatures, but in college I was almost as familiar with Kelvin temperatures.


16 posted on 05/26/2012 10:56:56 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (You only have three billion heartbeats in a lifetime.How many does the government claim as its own?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai

Lord How - you do know who he is, don’t you?

He was the minister who plunged the dagger in Mrs Thatcher’s back, when she decided that her government would never, ever join a common European currency.

I’m surprised that he dare show his face in public these days. The common currency works so well, doesn’t it?


17 posted on 05/26/2012 11:04:24 PM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ScaniaBoy

Well, he must be feeling brave due to the rise of a kindred spirit (Cameron) to the Prime Ministership, and of course the preponderance of other “liberal conservatives” (really hate that oxymoron, especially since Cameron had the temerity to utter it in public). As for the “common currency”, its only purpose was (and still is) to subjugate.


18 posted on 05/26/2012 11:06:55 PM PDT by Olog-hai
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai
Rods and chains suit me just fine.

19 posted on 05/26/2012 11:10:07 PM PDT by I see my hands (If you say what you think then no one will like you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: I see my hands

We ain’t gonna play football in meters either.


20 posted on 05/26/2012 11:14:50 PM PDT by Olog-hai
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-58 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson