Boris Johnson will pave the way for the return of pounds and ounces in British shops this week, in a “common sense” move heralded by Tory MPs as taking advantage of freedoms delivered by Brexit.
On Friday, the Government will publish proposals to repeal EU-derived law requiring metric units to be used for all trade, with only limited exceptions.
At the same time, ministers will issue guidance to firms on restoring the use of the crown symbol on pint glasses, after it was replaced by the CE marking to help the UK conform with EU rules.
A government source said: “We Brits measure our walks in miles and our beer and milk by the pint. And nobody knows what a 4.5kg baby looks like, but we all know a 10-pounder is a whopper.
“It’s time we held our heads high about our long history of traditional measures.
“And what better way to celebrate Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee than restoring the crown emblem back onto the side of pint glasses so that we can toast her health and service to this country.”
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will launch an official consultation on Friday with the public, business groups and industry to ask whether they wish to scrap the criminalisation of retailers using pounds and ounces.
The consultation paper, called “Choice on Units and Measurement”, will consider the advantages of reintroducing imperial measurements, for both customers and business.
A government source said the study will consider a number of options, including the unlikely scrapping of metric measurements and a complete return to pounds and ounces.
A more likely scenario is that traders such as greengrocers will eventually be allowed the choice of selling goods in pounds and ounces, in a similar way to pubs currently serving pints of beer.
Peter Bone, a prominent Tory Brexiteer, said it was “common sense” to look at using imperial measurements again – not least because one of Britain’s biggest trading partners is the USA, which uses that weights and measures system.
“I welcome the move. We had the nonsense of traders being charged for not using metric measurements,” he said.
David Jones, the deputy chairman of the European Research Group of MPs, said: “The British people have never really warmed to metric measurements. They still buy pints in pubs and measure speed in miles per hour.
“There is no reason at all why they should not be able to buy a pound of apples if they wish to do so.”
