Boris Johnson Set To Announce The Return Of Imperial Measurements

It's Lizzie's Platinum Jubilee next week, and to mark the special occasion, Boris Johnson is set to announce the return of imperial measurements. He sure knows how to spoil a royal, doesn't he?

A government insider has claimed the prime minister will confirm that retailers across the country will soon be allowed to sell items in pounds and ounces rather than the grams and kilograms they currently use.

For almost 60 years, the UK has used the metric system, which, as you will know, saw us switch up the way we measure stuff.

But while it's always been legal for items to be priced using pounds and ounces, they must also be priced up in grams and kilograms.

The Mirror's political editor reports the source says the move could be announced next Friday, 3 June.

However, there's no need to panic if you don't have a Scooby what imperial measurements mean, because the metric system is not being binned off completely.

Alamy

Shops and retailers, it's thought, will be able to choose which of the two, or both, they wish to use in the future.

A source in the Cabinet told the publication: "As the British people have been happy to use both imperial and metric measurements in their daily life it is good for the Government to reflect that now we are free to change our regulations accordingly."

This comes after the prime minister was forced to apologise following the publication of the Sue Gray report.

Johnson has been heavily criticised over a number of boozy parties that took place at No.10 Downing Street during the pandemic, at a time when people were banned from seeing their loved ones.

Photos even emerged of Johnson breaking the rules himself, celebrating his birthday with colleagues and raising a glass of wine at the leaving party for one of his advisors – an event for which he was not fined, though others in attendance were.

Released last week, the long-awaited report also revealed stories of employees being rude to cleaners and security staff, one person vomiting, two being involved in an altercation and even a karaoke machine being brought in for a sing-along.

Sue Gray Report

Gray's report said: "The events I investigated were attended by leaders in govt. Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen.

"Senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture."

Defending the photo of himself attending leaving drinks for a special advisor, which happened at a time when people were told to stay at home and the number of mourners permitted at funerals was limited, Johnson said he felt it was 'right' to say goodbye.

He said: "I know that some people will think it was wrong to even do that. I have to say I respectfully disagree, I think it was right.

"When people who were working very hard, for very long hours, when they are giving up a huge amount to serve their country, and they are moving on to some other part of government or leaving government service altogether, I think it is right to thank them.

"I repeat what I said in the Commons earlier on, I believe that they were work events, part of my job, and that view appears to be substantiated by the fact that I wasn’t fined for those events."