E-Malt.com News article: United Kingdom: The EU Parliament says the British pint to be left in peace

The British pint of beer and metric mile are safe at last after the European Parliament shelved plans to force the UK to adopt litres and kilometres, the Telegraph communicated on December, 16.

An indefinite opt-out has been agreed by European MPs in Strasbourg to allow the continued use of the mile for roads, the pint for draught beer, cider and bottled milk, and the ounce for precious metals.

Other items, such as fruit and vegetables, can also be sold using imperial measures, as long as traders use "dual labelling" by supplying metric units alongside traditional pounds and ounces.

The move draws a line under decades of wrangling between London and Brussels, and marks a triumph for the "metric martyrs" - food sellers and campaigners who were prosecuted by local councils for refusing to stop using imperial measures.

Welcoming the victory for imperial measures, John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, said: "People in Britain like their pint and their mile. They should be able to use the measures they are most familiar with, and now they can be sure that they will continue to do so.

"We made strong arguments for the UK's right to carry on using pints and miles and maintaining dual metric and imperial labelling. I know how important this is to the British people and businesses."


17 December, 2008