The government’s push to promote the use of the imperial measure after Brexit has brought British “culture” back into stores, a minister has claimed.
Boris Johnson is expected to make an announcement this Friday to coincide with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, to pave the way for more use of pounds, ounces, feet and inches.
Confirming the plan, Technology Minister Chris Phillip told Sky News: “It’s allowing our national culture and heritage to be put back on the shop shelf.”
The government has been accused of trying to “weaponize apathy” among Brexit voters at a time when the cost of a life crisis hits hard-hit families.
Denying the minister was ignoring more important issues, Mr Philippe said: “The government is throwing everything away at this cost of life’s problem, as we should rightly do.”
The government is preparing to launch a consultation on how to further incorporate the royal measure after Brexit. No10 expects the move to garner support in leave-voting areas.
Labor MP Angela Eagle said the measurement move was a “pathetic” attempt to “weaponize the nostalgia”.
Tory MP Alicia Kearns also criticized the move. She said “not one” of her constituents was seeking royal measurements.
“This is not Brexit freedom. It is a bullshit,” said Ms. Kearns, who said she no longer trusts Mr. Johnson in the wake of the Partygate scandal.
Fellow Tory MP Tobias Ellwood – another critic of the PM – called the rollback of the royal measure a desperate attempt to “shore up voters and chase a piece”.
The chairman of the defense selection committee said: “There will be some people in our party who will like this apathetic policy in the hope that it will be enough to win the next election. But this is not the case. This is not the conservative thinking of a nation that needs to appeal beyond our base. ,
The EU Weights and Measures Directive went into effect in 2000, requiring merchants to use metric units for sales-by-weight or measurement of fresh produce.
Prices of goods in pounds and ounces are legal, but they must be displayed with a price in grams and kilograms.
independent Comprehension has been told not to move away from metric units, but the consultation will see where it makes sense to include or switch to imperial measurements such as feet and yards, and pints and gallons.
It is part of a wider effort at Whitehall to review EU rules on the UK law books after Brexit.
Mr Johnson is said to be planning a “bonfire” of EU rules to spur support among pro-Brexit lawmakers and voters. According to Eye News, a list of rules to be repealed will be announced along with the Brexit Freedom Bill.
Meanwhile, it emerged that the average earner’s family would be spoiled by around £800 this year, even after an additional £15bn package announced last week by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
An analysis by the Commons Library shows that the average two full-time workers earning £33,790 will pay an additional £220 this year.
