Who is popular today?

Imperial measurements should be consigned to the past, writes Dr Peter Burke in response to a government proposal to bring them back, while Helen Johnson points our the deviousness of the consultation’s questionsYour article rightly mocks the government’s announcement that wine can now be sold in 568ml (1 pint) bottles (Pint of wine, anyone? UK looks to bring back ‘silly measure’, 27 December). If this is as far as the “benefits of Brexit” go then they are very sparse indeed.Using imperial measures in the retail trade is without logic, and this consultation outcome showed that the British people have sense. Out of over 100,000 respondents, just 0.4% said we should use imperial units only, and just 1.3% said imperial deserved more prominence; 81% favoured the status quo, whereby metric is the primary indicator on packaging; the rest favoured metric only. This despite the consultation using leading questions. Continue reading...