Britain wins battle for the pint

[4me2]

Britain wins battle for the pint


The pint of beer is safe and won't be replaced by the litre
Amid the economic gloom, UK drinkers have found a measure of good news - the pint will not have to be renamed.
Decades of wrangling with the EU over switching to metric measures has ended with a vote confirming that imperial measures can carry on indefinitely.
The European Commission acknowledged last year that persuading the UK to embrace litres and kilometres over pints and miles was a lost cause.
Minister for Europe Caroline Flint said it was a "victory for common sense".
The vote means a 2009 deadline to end the use of imperial measurements alongside metric units has been scrapped.
Innovation, Universities and Skills Secretary John Denham, who is responsible for national weights and measures, was delighted.
He said after the European Parliament vote: "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 and am grateful for the Commission's support."



Cheers to saving the British pint
Europe Minister Caroline Flint said: "This is a victory for common sense. It shows that the EU is listening to the concerns of businesses and consumers and is not intent on imposing a 'one-size-fits-all' regime where unnecessary.
"In the current difficult economic climate, it will also mean that British companies do not face extra labelling costs in order to do business in the United States."
Since 1995, goods sold in Europe have had to display metric weights and measurements, but to appease a public outcry in the UK, imperial indications have also been allowed.
That concession to British tradition was due to expire in 2009, when imperial measures faced the final curtain - banished from packaging and market stalls.
The reprieve follows months of Commission consultations with British industry, trade and consumer groups, an exercise which convinced European officials emotions were still running high over the imperial system and a move to metric-only in the UK would give sceptics more ammunition for the anti-EU campaign.

The issue of metrification aroused strong passions with many in the UK
The issue caused most controversy when Britain's so-called "metric martyrs" lost a battle to trade only in pounds and ounces.
One of them, Steve Thoburn, who died suddenly in 2004, had been convicted in 2001 of selling bananas only by the pound. His offence was to fail to provide customers with the metric equivalent, as required under EU law.
But the metric saga in the UK predates the EU - the government set up the UK metrication board in 1969, four years before joining the Common Market.
The request to look into metrication had come from industry in the mid-1960s.
Now schools routinely teach children to think of their weight in kilograms and their height in metres and centimetres, and petrol by the litre is common.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7786799.stm

[Over Carl]

Lucky to get even a half litre at most pubs when you ask for a pint.

Best one I've found is to carry loads of change and pay a little short. When they ask for the rest, ask for a full pint. Usually stops them from topping up by one drop when requested and/or giving the subsequent ones short. .

[TwoPlAnKs]

its not like i really care how they measure beer but who the fuck actually thinks pints are what makes britain british?

drinking far too many of them and chucking patio furniture at any and every other nation whenever england lose a football match makes us british. being the only country in europe not to embrace any other european country unless we're middle aged and want to go somewhere hot to live near other british people makes us british. being the only country full of underage violence and horrible respect for alcohol makes us british. the pint just makes us out of date.

its like measuring roads in miles. it would make sense to change to KM but its not worth the hassle for the sake of changing every sign and every speedo and every person.

[beerman]

drinking far too many of them and chucking patio furniture at any and every other nation whenever england lose a football match makes us british.

So do the Scots/Welsh/Northen Irish do that too when England lose?

[reverend]

This one doesn't bother me - when I go to Europe I love the fact you order a grande beer and get a full litre in a massive glass - if they did that at home I'd be well happy!!

[C3Grimmy]

it wont matter for long with the smoking ban most pubs & clubs will be closed so we will all be drinking at home out of can or bottles from the supermarket

[TwoPlAnKs]

So do the Scots/Welsh/Northen Irish do that too when England lose?

perhaps quite the reverse, especially if we are the ones losing to england. in all seriousness we are in quite a lucky position up here that when it comes to things like the iraq war and english football hooligans we can say "England who? did we not go to war with them once?" but then we enjoy the stability of being in the UK the rest of the time. its a win win situation - especially for european travel.

it wont matter for long with the smoking ban most pubs & clubs will be closed so we will all be drinking at home out of can or bottles from the supermarket

hardly. most of my friends who smoke refuse to fucking smoke inside now. its a right pain in the arse when i have the choice of standing in my own garden or sitting inside on my own waiting for them because they refuse to spark up inside. one night when people were smoking inside some other people were round and freaked out completed when people sparked up. its got to the stage where people enjoy going out into the cold more than they enjoy smoking. and the bars who claim to have shut down because of it were obviously pretty shit - if people only went there because of the smoking and would now rather sit in their house on their own it cant have been much fun.

[flumperino]

Why can't we just move with the times for god's sake? Litres, Euros and kilometres....it aint that difficult to convert!?!

I would draw the line at Esperanto though

[Mule]

I really don't like the fact that the BBC appear to have a pro-imperial measurment stance on this. They should be being more neutral.

I for one think it's about time we dropped outdated measurements like the pint. I can see that switching from miles to kilometers would be hugely expensive and complicated to change but a switch to metric in food/drink would be no issue at all, as the article says, we already have metric measurements - rarely do products state their imperial equivalents imho. Want to buy a pint of beer? Get 568ml instead, it's the same amount. I'm sure you could still ask for a pint of beer though.

[Raptor]

my grandad loved a pint and would walk 2 miles to the pub. nuff said.

[flumperino]

I would gladly walk 1 kilometre to the pub, and pay 3 euros for a half litre of lager

[Mule]

I would gladly walk 1 kilometre to the pub, and pay 3 euros for a half litre of lager

But beer in millilitres tastes disgusting...

[reverend]

Tastes the same as beer in pint pots to me mate

[BBK]

I dont get what the fuss is, I really don't. As long as I get beer when I ask for it does it really matter the size? I mean FFS when we buy cans or bottles of lager they don't come in pints or half pints, they come in centilitres, or if you get the biggie, a litre. Its a whole load of fuss over nothing, the same as those idiot market traders who couldn't switch to g / kg from paaaands and aaaaances.

Its that stupid island mentality all over again.