British Weights and Measures Association

The current British Weights and Measures Association, or BWMA, is an advocacy group established in the United Kingdom in 1995, founded by Vivian Linacre.[1] The current body was established in 1995, but there had also been a predecessor organisation, also called the BWMA, that was established in 1904, and lapsed after the First World War.

British Weights and Measures Association

Abbreviation	BWMA
Formation	1995
Type	Advocacy group
Website	bwmaorg.uk

Aim of the BWMA

The BWMA's stated aim is to uphold the freedom to use the Imperial system and to oppose the compulsory imposition of the metric system in the UK. The BWMA's campaign parallels the evolution of the eurosceptic viewpoint of the UK's relationship with the EU[2] - its founder, Vivian Linacre, stood for election as a UK Independence Party candidate in 1995, the same year as he founded the BWMA - famously asking the controversial eurosceptic Enoch Powell for endorsement of his political campaign.[3]

By the time of the modern BWMA's founding, metrication in the United Kingdom was far advanced, having begun in 1962. British schoolchildren had been educated using only metric measures since 1974 (earlier in some places), and British industry had changed to using metric tools and equipment during the 1980s and were, in most cases, manufacturing to metric standards.

Campaigns

• BWMA maintain that people should be free to use the metric system if they want, but that it should not be forced upon them.[4] and specifically, the Association campaigns for freedom for traders to serve their customers in whichever measures both parties find most convenient.

• BWMA campaigns against the metrication of road signs[5] and in 2009 published their response[6] to a consultation hosted by the UK's Department for Transport which discussed a proposal to require compulsory dual Metric/Imperial signs of height limits and width limits. BWMA's responded that dual-units signage should not be made compulsory, and that the legal provisions (from the 1980s) allowing voluntary dual-units signage should be repealed so that only Imperial units could be displayed. This, the BWMA claimed, was to "avoid confusion."
• BWMA support the Metric Martyrs – a group of traders prosecuted for their defiance of the Weights and Measures Act[7] and the Price Marking Order.[8]
• BWMA gives detailed advice on how traders can circumvent regulations mandating metric weights and measures.[9]
• BWMA members have published a number of books arguing for customary measures. These include The General Rule by BWMA President Vivian Linacre (Squeeze Press) and About the Size of It by Warwick Cairns.
• The BWMA has published a "rogues' gallery" of those they label "Metric Culprits." These include a long list of individuals and bodies that have advocated or supported metrication, including the Irish Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, who metricated road signs in Republic of Ireland in 2005.[10]

Opposition

• These actions contrast with the UK Metric Association (UKMA), which campaigns for compulsory Metrication in the United Kingdom for all legal and official purposes, including trade and road signs.

Patrons and honorary members

Patrons

• Gwyneth Dunwoody[11] (1930–2008)
• Vice-Admiral Sir Louis Le Bailly (1915–2010)[11]
• Sir Patrick Moore[11] (1923–2012)
• John Monson, 11th Baron Monson (1932–2011)[11]

Honorary members

Peter Alliss[11] (1931-2020) Clive Anderson[11] (b. 1952) Trevor Bailey (1923–2011)[12] Michael Barry[11] (1941-2011) Christopher Booker[12] (1937-2019) Ian Botham[11] (b. 1955) Max Bygraves[11] (1922-2012) Beryl Cook[11] (1926–2008 ) Jilly Cooper[12] (b. 1937) Richard Demarco[11] (b. 1930) Roy Faiers[12] Ranulph Fiennes[12] (b. 1944) Edward Fox[11] (b. 1937) Dick Francis[11] (1920–2010) George MacDonald Fraser[11] (1925–2008) Sandy Gall[12] (b. 1927) Simon Heffer[11] (b. 1960) Peter Hitchens[11] (b. 1951)

Jools Holland[12] (b. 1958) Richard Holmes[12] (1946–2011) Richard Ingrams[11] (b. 1937) James Le Fanu[12] (b. 1950)[13] Candida Lycett Green[12] (b. 1942) Jonathan Lynn[11] (b. 1943) Richard Mabey[11] (b. 1941) Christopher Martin-Jenkins[12] (1945–2013) Robin Page[11] (b. 1943) Andrew Phillips, Baron Phillips of Sudbury[11] (b. 1939) William Poole[12] Tim Rice[12] (b. 1944) Andrew Roberts[12] (b. 1963) J.K. Rowling[11] (b. 1965) Quinlan Terry[12] (b. 1937) Antony Worrall Thompson[12] (b. 1951) Keith Waterhouse[12] (1929–2009)

Notes

1. "Database of archives of Non Governmental Organisations – BWMA". DANGO. 17 April 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
2. BWMA "Ministers' Metrication Conspiracy"
3. The Telegraph: "Nigel Farage and Enoch Powell"
4. "British Weights & Measures Association – Annual Awards" (Press release). 21 May 2004. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
5. BWMA/Transport – De-metricated signs
6. Yardstick: Dec 2009 Archived 15 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
7. Results within Legislation – Statute Law Database
8. Results within Legislation – Statute Law Database
9. BWMA/Business Issues – Survival Guide to Metric Law
10. BWMA/Metric Culprits
11. "BWMA Patrons and Honorary members". British Weights and Measures Association. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
12. "Letter to Prime Minister". British Weights and Measures Association. 16 April 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
13. jameslefanu.com

References

• Cairns, Warwick (2007). About the Size of It: The Common Sense Approach to Measuring Things, Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-230-01628-6
• Linacre, Vivian (2007). The General Rule: A Guide to Customary Weights and Measures , The Squeeze Press, ISBN 978-1-906069-01-8

External links

• BMWA's official website