The UK Metric Association, or UKMA, is an advocacy group in the United Kingdom that argues for completion of metrication in the United Kingdom and advocates the use of the metric system among the general public in the UK.
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| Abbreviation | UKMA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1999 (Constitution adopted in 2002) |
| Type | Advocacy group |
| Purpose | Promote metrication in the United Kingdom |
| Website | ukma.org.uk |
History
editUKMA was founded by Chris Keenan in 1999 and formally associated in 2002 as an independent, non-party political, single-issue organisation.[1] Later, an e-mail forum was started for supporters of metrication. In 2005, a website called ThinkMetric to help and encourage the general public to think in metric units was launched. In 2006, a blog called MetricViews was launched.[2]
The current chair of UKMA is Peter Burke, and the secretary is Ronnie Cohen.[3] As of April 2023,[update] its patrons are Gavin Esler, Jim Al-Khalili, Lord Kinnock and Lord Taverne.[4]
Campaigns
editIn July 2004, UKMA published its report, "A Very British Mess", as part of its campaign to end the simultaneous use of imperial and metric measurements and for the Government to complete the switch to metric units.[5][6] In the foreward, its patron Geoffrey Howe confesses that "I didn’t challenge the decision to abolish the Metrication Board, when I was Chancellor of the Exchequer. I didn’t often run away from difficult decisions - but this is one that I did duck."[7]
In February 2006, UKMA called for the Government to set a date for the conversion of road signs from imperial to metric units.[8][9]
Opposition
editThe aims of UKMA contrast with those of the British Weights and Measures Association (BWMA), which opposes what it describes as "compulsory use of the metric system".[10] BWMA also campaigns against what it calls "unlawful metric pedestrian signs".[11] It claims that "hundreds of unlawful metric signs have been converted back to imperial, following letters of complaint by BWMA and its supporters".[12]
See also
edit- Metric Martyrs – a group of English greengrocers who were convicted for using unapproved scales
- Metrication
- US Metric Association – the US metrication advocacy group that inspired the founding of the UKMA
References
edit- ^ "About". UK Metric Association. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ "UKMA News" (PDF). WorldPress. UK Metric Association. December 2006. p. 1. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ "Officers". UK Metric Association. 1 June 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "Patrons". UK Metric Association. 7 August 2022. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ "Half measures a ' British mess'". WalesOnline. 9 July 2004. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ Kay, John (8 July 2004). Measuring up. BBC News. Retrieved 4 April 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ "A very British Mess". UK Metric Association. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Call for metric road sign switch". BBC News. 23 February 2006. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ Clark, Andrew (23 February 2006). "Campaign for £80m switch to kilometres". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ "BWMA". BWMA. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Grayling orders councils to stop 'bamboozling' pedestrians". Transport Network. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Defending Imperial Road Signs". BWMA. Retrieved 30 October 2023.