MEP and market traders put weight behind bid to save imperial measurements

Tuesday, June 7 2011

West Midlands MEP Mike Nattrass and market traders in Walsall are calling for a return to the use of imperial measures following the news that supermarket giant ASDA has brought back traditional British weights.

UKIP MEP Mike Nattrass, who has supported the British Weights and Measures Association (BWMA) from its inception, and market traders in Walsall, want to see a greater use of British weights and measures following Asda’s announcement that it would sell 1lb punnets of strawberries.

The decision means that for the first time in 16 years the supermarket chain is offering punnets of strawberries in pounds and ounces.

In 1995 confusion reigned when EU rules led to wide-scale metrication Shopkeepers flouting these laws risked prosecution.

Strong opposition to the rules from UKIP and the BWMA led to the EU softening its stance.

In 2007 the law for packaging on fruit and vegetables changed to allow the display of metric weights and the inclusion of imperial measures as a “supplementary indication”.

Welcoming Asda’s stance, Mr Nattrass says more should be done to promote and protect imperial measurements.

He said: “School children should learn more about imperial measurements. It would be sad to see our traditional British measures die out altogether.

“I welcome Asda’s decision to use imperial measurements and I hope they roll-out the use of British weights to other products.

“No-one in the UK goes to the bar and asks for a litre of beer and people often nip out to buy a pint of milk. It was the EU that attempted to destroy our imperial measures.

“Give the EU an inch and it tries to take a kilometre, or should that be 0.621371192 of a mile?”

Karen Sands, former Chairperson of the Walsall Market Traders Association, said: “The majority of our customers ask for things in imperial measurements. They ask, for say, a pound of cod or half a pound of prawns.

“I would say about 90 per cent of our customers ask for things in imperial measurements and all we are trying to do is earn a living and keep our customers happy.

“It would be lovely to have pounds and ounces back on prominent display – it is the British way and imperial measurements should be brought back more into use.

“At one time the EU even told us we would have to put the Latin names of the fish we sold on price labels but at least that never came in.

“We try to work with any legislation that is introduced but at times is can be an absolute nightmare.”

Giovanni Foglia, who runs a fruit and vegetable stall on the market, added: “We are in Europe but we are an island. We should be able to use imperial measurements.

“As a result of complying with EU rules we have to use bigger cards for our prices as we have to include metric measurements.

“I am concerned imperial measurements will fade from use because children are not really taught about them in schools.”