Tag Archives: metrication

Labour leadership hopefuls quizzed on metrication

It is at least possible that one of the five candidates for the Labour leadership will be our next Prime Minister – so it would be helpful to know where each stands on the question of completing metrication.  Here is … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

60 km Jubilee Greenway to be signed in imperial

On 9th June 1977, the Queen officially opened the Silver Jubilee Walkway, a 21 km walking trail around central London to mark her Silver Jubilee, or 25 years on the throne. Thirty-three years later, work is under way to celebrate … Continue reading

Posted in General, Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Glaring omission from Queen’s Speech

The new coalition Government claims to be determined to clear up the “mess” left behind by the previous Government. So it is notable that Her Majesty’s gracious speech included no proposals to tackle one of the biggest “messes” of all … Continue reading

Posted in General, Law | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Kids don’t count

Two recent Channel 4 Dispatches programmes entitled “Kids Don’t Count” sought to demonstrate just that. But if you saw the programmes and are a regular reader of Metric Views, you may have wondered if the programmes overlooked the real problem.

Posted in Education, General | Tagged , , , , , | 30 Comments

Prospects for metrication progress under the new government

The makeup of the new coalition government and its policy programme are now broadly clear.  How will it affect the prospects for progress on completing metrication?

Posted in General | Tagged , | 30 Comments

An improvement in the weather

A recent exchange of e-mails between Ezra, a reader of MetricViews in the USA, and Tony, in the UK, suggests that recent years have seen changes for the better in weather reporting in the both the UK and Canada. Do … Continue reading

Posted in General, Media, Technical, Views from abroad | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Could a future Government reverse metrication?

A recent correspondent expressed the wish “Let’s hope the new (Conservative) government puts a stop to metrication as far as is practically possible.” Naturally, we disagree with this sentiment – but, whoever wins the election, what could they actually do … Continue reading

Posted in Consumer affairs, General, Law | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

How should we measure energy (and power)?

The recent consultation on so-called “calories” on menus, together with the launch of more new models of electric cars has prompted these thoughts on the dysfunctional way in which we measure energy and power. This muddle reflects a lack of … Continue reading

Posted in General, Technical | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

DfT imperialists waste more taxpayers’ money

The Department for Transport, who once described metrication of road signs as “a waste of taxpayers’ money”, have themselves been condemned by a House of Commons Select Committee for wasting £71 million on building 66 motorcycle testing stations in order … Continue reading

Posted in General, Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Crazy proposal to raise speed limits above speed limiter settings

As a bizarre consequence of the failure to switch to metric speed limits, the Department for Transport (DfT) is proposing to raise the motorway speed limit of coaches and buses from 60 mph (96.6 km/h) to 65 mph (104.6 km/h). That’s 4.6 % faster … Continue reading

Posted in Law, Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments