2 November 1997

ONLY CIVIL DISOBEDIANCE WILL LIFT THE BURDEN OF METRICATION

&

SAINSBURYS WIN THE UNCOVETED METRICKERY AWARD

BWMA CONFERENCE - DR RICHARD NORTH

On Saturday November 1^st a packed audience at the British Weights & Measures Association London Conference heard Dr Richard North, the scourge of bureaucratic tyranny, assert that only civil disobedience will lift the burden of compulsory metrication from Britain. Members of the Association were shocked to hear this advice. They are following the democratic process to persuade Parliament to get the criminal law removed from metrication.

Dr North explained that the metrication regulations were enacted under Consumer Protection legislation but had completely the opposite effect. The huge cost of compulsory metrication is borne by consumers. Big businesses encouraged metrication because they know it means more market share, thousands of small traders are forced out by the heavy costs of conversion.

Metrication means people have lost all sense of value. Once, a penny on a gallon of petrol was headline news. Not any more because we have no idea of the baseline cost. In fact the price has rocketed with hardly a murmur against. And who now can work out in their head their fuel consumption in m.p.g.? Once a pound jar of jam was 454 grams, then 450 grams and even 400 grams, but the price remained the same. This is not consumer protection.

Ironically the so-called Consumer Associations support metrication. They ignore consumers' real feelings. A survey of 3,000 shoppers showed only 6% want complete metrication.

This unpopular law will only be repealed, said Dr North, when the jails start to fill with Britons who simply want to sell a pound of apples, or a gallon of fuel, to other Britons. Only when we see the confiscation of property and violent arrests will the people rise against this iniquitous legislation.

THE BWMA AWARDS

The British Weights & Measures Association makes two important awards each year. The "Inch Perfect" award is granted to the person, or organisation, for the most outstanding resistance to metrication.

The Inch Perfect Award goes to Ian Stretch, founder of "Hands Off Hands". Mr Stretch is a vet in the Isle of Wight and he has campaigned against the abolition of the measurement of horses by hands and inches. Thanks to him the Joint Measurement Board of the British Equestrian Centre intends to reinstate hands and inches on their registration certificates in 1998.

The Metrickery Award goes to the person, or organisation, who has done the most to promote metrication against the consumer's interest.

The Metrickery Award goes to Sainsburys the supermarket group. Sainsburys are committed to the abolition of Imperial measures on pre-packed goods within the next few months. They claim it is European law but in truth this does not take effect for two years. Their action exceeds their legal obligations. Their enthusiasm for this law contrasts sharply with their former attitude towards the Sunday Trading bye-laws. When a concerned consumer said he would take his custom elsewhere the snarling reply from Sainsburys was that he would be in difficulty since the whole industry is moving towards metric monopoly.

For further information CONTACT:

Mr Vivian Linacre, BWMA Director (tel. & FAX: 0131 556 6080)

Press release distributed by David Delaney, BWMA Hon Public Relations Officer, Mortimers Cross Mill, Leominster, HR6 9PE, (Tel: 01568 708 820, FAX 01568 708 765, e-mail dtdelaney@compuserve.com).

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