Letter: Heseltine behind metric chaos

Wednesday 13 November 1996 00:02 GMT

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Heseltine behind

metric chaos

Sir: Your correspondent Chris Keenan (letter, 7 November) bemoans metric muddle at the supermarket.

In the mid-1960s the government created the Metrication Board to smooth the transition from imperial to metric measurements. By dint of a little nudge here and a little encouragement there, the board persuaded industry to change, and indeed the pharmaceutical and building industries (among others) did so, in such a manner as not to cause trouble to the public.

At the beginning of the Thatcher years, Michael Heseltine, who disapproved of quangos, abolished the Metrication Board in order to save a little money. The expensive chaos that your correspondent describes is the result.

DAVID MARKS

London W13

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