I see that Gunther Verheugen, the responsible E.U. Commissioner, has denied reports in the British press at the end of August that the E.U. was demanding an end to the mile and pint etc. - and that the European Commission was demanding that Britain set a date for metric conversion.

He is quoted as saying:

"Actually, I quite like the mile and the pint...this doesn't concern the single market, what problems do the mile and pint cause for the single market?"

Precisely.

It looks like another of the U.K. Metric Association's dirty tricks.

Woof Woof!

Since you lifted the only message posted to the new forum for the BWMA, you should at least copy it correctly without corrupting the meaning. Here is what was really said in the interview:

Question: Your recent call for the UK to set a firm date for completing the changeover to the metric system…

Günter Verheugen: The metrics story! I am very grateful that you asked the question. I was not approached, never. I did not raise it with the British media. I haven’t said a single word. The spin in one British newspaper is 100 per cent invention.

I am not pressuring the UK to go metric. As long as I am in Brussels I will not touch the issue. Full stop.

I personally have a lot of sympathy for the pint and for the mile in the UK. What else do they have? The acre, that’s about it. I mean, what is the problem here for the internal market. Really, what is the problem?


Nowhere did he say he liked the pint and mile. He used the word sympathy. Sympathy implies pity. One can dislike something but still show pity for it.

The opinion of Mr Verheugen is exactly what I would expect from any EU politician.

Face it - The EU doesn't give a monkeys what measurements we use (other than in certain cases) It should be obvious to anyone who has looked into the issue of metrication in depth, that it is our own government that wants to complete the job.

I know I'm banging my head against a brick wall here, but maybe one day you might finally realise the truth!

Daniel,

All you appear to have done is back up Tony's post.

How strange.

Andy - I sympathise with your statement but I bet there are those in the EU that are so hell-bent on standardisation that they really do want to interefere in Britain's measurements. Not because they hate imperial, or love metric, but because of their simple love of standardisation of anything that moves.

By the way - when I say "sympathise" I mean it in relation to the proper meaning of the word, not Daniels reinterpretation of it.