HC Deb 21 February 1972 vol 831 cc197-8W
50. Mr. Oakes

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a detailed statement on his reasons why metric and imperial measures should be sold in separate bars in licensed premises as set out in the White Paper on Metrication, Command Paper No. 4880.

Mr. Ridley

If measures from both ranges were permitted in the same bar for the same drinks customers might, especially late in the evening, become confused about which measure was being sold.

51. Mr. Oakes

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will require the Metrication Board to consult with the Licensed Victuallers' Association and consumer interests before introducing legislation dividing licensed premises into bars in which only metric or only Imperial measures may be supplied.

Mr. Ridley

The responsibility is ours, not that of the Metrication Board. We shall certainly consult the Licensed Victuallers' Association and consumer interests before finalising plans, but the decision whether a bar should be imperial or metric is one for the licensee to take.