The way to find out is to drink a yard of ale, divide by 36 and multiply by 39. It would probably be better to do the arithmetic before rather than after quaffing the ale ( in one go, remember!)

Quote: "It seems to me there is a DIRECT link between falling standards in Maths in school and the introduction of decimilsation"

The evidence for this can be found where? If you were right then the US would top all assessments of the mathematics abilities of school children, being a bastion of of the imperial system, but it doesn't. In fact the UK beats it,

Quote: "helped us to learn maths and about stuff in life"

Exactly how does the "stuff in life" follow from mathematics? What has integration revealed to you?

I'm afraid you fall into the cosy glow of yesteryear category where selective memory pervades. Go on tell me how people used to be so helpful and left their doors unlocked.

"...we are being held to ransom at a very serious cost to the economy...."

How much?

well said - happy to be your first fan for your incisive comment...

Quote; "Let's just get shot of imperial right now and pass the torch to the Americans"

I'm afraid the Americans are less likely to make changes. Having just spent six weeks in the US I can see that they are stuck in a different universe. They still use the Fahrenheit system for temperature, their "pint" is a wimpy 16 fluid ounces compared to a 20 oz British pint (even the definition of a fluid ounce is different by 4%) and most drinks sizes are specified in fluid ounces. Therefore the US miles per gallon figures are not compatible with the UK.

Furthermore the Americans can not write dates correctly as they write today 16 May 2012 as 5/16/12 (OK it's obvious for days 13-31) and the self prices in shops do not include sales taxes so when you go to the till, unless you know the tax rate and are brilliant at mental arithmetic (math!), the price you pay will be different.

Don't hold out any hope of change in America.

I'd abolish Howe and leave the rest of us be - give them an inch and they'd take 25,400 mili-wossits.

Really?

That's why I enjoy watching US and Canadian home-improvement programs.

I can understand what they're talking about.

I agree entirely.

30-odd years ago, aviation fuel was delivered in the UK in a variety of measures - imperial gallons, US gallons, pounds weight and litres - it was an absolute nightmare, delayed transactions and was open to elementary mistakes.. then someone suggested a rationalisation to litres - end of problem..

It doesn't make us less British (or you would probably say 'more European') because we use a more adaptable & universably acceptable measurement system; it makes us more sensible, that's all..

..and tourists wouldn't change their habit of coming here if we bought 500ml of milk, 500g of butter and drank 500ml of beer in a pub either...
Tourists come here for a variety of reasons, but our anacronystic use of the rump of an outmoded measurement system isn't one of them...

Brits have been famous the world over for being pragmatic, flexible and willing to learn - as well as being mired in tiresome tradition which is, in some quarters, the very reason why tourists DON'T come here, and go in far greater numbers to France, Italy and Spain instead.

The metric system hasn't affected their tourist industry, and it wouldn't affect ours..

OK - lets get something straight here. It is NOT Brussels that 'made' us go metric. The UK government took a decision in 1965, upon advise from the CBI, to convert to metric. That is a full 8 years before we joined the Common Market. Did Brussels also 'make' Canada, South Africa, Australia, India, New Zealand and every other Commonwealth country go metric? Or China, Brasil and Japan? And if you are talking Britishness, then you ignore the fact that most of the key Imperial measurements were actually European anyway, and not British. The metric system on the other hand WAS devised by an Englishman, and a Bishop to boot! John Wilkins, President of the Royal Society of London, proposed an interlinked system of measures based on the decimal system, as long ago as the 17th century and the French acted upon his suggestions. Prototype units for the metre and kilogram were made in British foundries of Johnson Matthey, and British Scientists and Engineers(e.g., Watt, Faraday, Kelvin) give their name to many metric units. How much more British do you little Englanders want it to be! So be British and support the metric system which currently allows large , 100% metric companies like Honda, Airbus, BMW and Siemens (to name but a few) to invest in the UK.