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.
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.
Read more via The Telegraph
