It is contradictory that metricators regard sixteen ounces in a pound as random and archaic while accepting the self-evidence of sixteen sheets of A5 in a sheet of A1. Even the Euro '96 football finals started with sixteen teams, divided into four groups of four to enable the progression of semi-finals and quarter finals. The metric system is firmly established and widely used in Europe, but not in the form imagined by its supporters in Britain. Many metric units have long since been obsolete. Other metric units have been cut up to reproduce measures based on customary sizes and some trades never converted to metric in the first place.
Customary units exist in general conversation and for convenient approximations.
The BWMA's plan to end compulsory metrication by means of a parliamentary Deregulation Order is rapidly gaining pace. Since the announcement of the campaign in the first issue of The Footrule in September, many business associations have pledged their full support and more are joining every week.