Too many defective speeding prosecutions - so ACPO bluff harder

PR487: Too many defective speeding prosecutions - so ACPO bluff harder
news: for immediate release


According to the Times today, The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) will send a crack defence team to prosecute drivers who dare to challenge their speeding fine.
Safe Speed says that ACPO is merely upping their bluff. The biggest bluff of all is that the resources do not exist to prosecute every speeding case. If drivers stopped accepting fixed penalties the system would collapse in weeks.
This is the real reason for the ever increasing 'bluff and bluster' tactics - they need to force us into paying fixed penalties because neither the courts nor the CPS can possibly cope with much of an increase in cases.

Paul Smith, founder of SafeSpeed.org.uk, said:
"This action by ACPO is a dirty trick - they are attempting to put access to justice beyond the pocket of ordinary drivers. They are effectively saying - 'you are guilty because we never make mistakes'. But the newspapers are full of Police mistakes, and, to make matters worse, one of the key pieces of police prosecution equipment is downright dodgy. So dodgy, in fact, that it has been christened the 'dodgyscope' by Internet users."

According to The Times {verbatim quote}:
{Mr Hughes said: "I respect competent lawyers who go through the evidence on behalf of their client. My job is to make sure the prosecution case is as robust as the defence."
He criticised anticamera groups such as Safe Speed and the Association of British Drivers, which encourage drivers to challenge speeding tickets.
"What these groups have done is encourage people to believe that there is something inherently wrong with enforcing the law."}

Paul Smith replied: "What is wrong, Mr Hughes, is the overzealous application of a law that simply isn't up to the job. You are damaging confidence in the justice system, the Police / public relationship and road safety itself. You can't even comply with the speed limit yourself, because you recently had 6 driving licence points for speeding."
"We encourage drivers to investigate the case against them. I would go as far as to say that MOST speeding cases are DEFECTIVE on the prosecution side. If you dig deep enough a fatal defect is quite likely to emerge. If you know you were not speeding according to law, or you do not know who the driver was at the time of the alleged offence then you are likely to have a winnable case."
"The whole thing has become a petty war of technicalities with ACPO and the Police throwing ever increasing resources against an increasingly untrusting public. In this ridiculous war road safety has been forgotten. Mr Hughes may well claim that the law is on his side but however much he may bleat about the law the fact is that millions upon millions of speeding prosecutions are not saving lives on the road. It isn't 'the law' that matters most here, Mr Hughes, it's the number of roads fatalities. You should know better."

Motorist's Prosecution Checklist:
* The speed limit must be correctly signed in accordance with the regulations (Folly Bottom, Wylye, North Wales, Cleveland, Starcross and others)
* A speed limit order must apply correctly to the location in question. (Lincolnshire, London, North Wales and others)
* The paperwork must be correct and in accordance with all laws and regulations. (Dorset, Cleveland)
* The paperwork must be delivered on time
* The Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) cannot be served by second class post. (South Wales)
* Papers to issue a summons must be laid within 6 months of the date of alleged offence.
* The equipment must be calibrated correctly.
* The operator must use the equipment in accordance with rules and guidelines.
* The operator must form a prior opinion of speed in excess of a speed limit.
* Arguably only a Police constable is qualified to form a prior opinion of speed in excess of a posted speed limit.
* Communications equipment must be switched off while measurements of speed are taken (including the operator's mobile phone).
* The site must be suitable (restrictions include near power lines)
* The equipment must be working properly.
* Evidence must be disclosed to the defence 7 days before the trial on request or it becomes inadmissible.
* If you don't know who the driver was at the time of the alleged offence you may well have a statutory defence in RTOA1988 S172(4) as amended
* The court must be impartial (And since the Magistrate's Court Service are usually a camera partnership member it is far from clear that the court has the required degree of impartiality.)
* The process must not breach your Human Rights (A 'right to silence' case is ongoing awaiting verdict at the ECHR at Strasbourg.)
* In the case of Gatso fixed speed cameras the transit of the calibration marks in the two photographs must match the speed recorded by the radar speed meter.
* The prosecution must turn up in court with the correct paperwork.
* Witness statements cannot be signed by machine. (North Wales)
* The LTI20.20 (common laser speed meter used in virtually all mobile speed camera vans) is subject to various operating anomalies, notably 'slip effect'.
A failure in any of these areas will usually be fatal to a prosecution case.

Notes for editors
=================
The Times today:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1826722.ece

About Safe Speed
================
The Safe Speed road safety campaign is primarily the work of engineer-turned road safety analyst Paul Smith.
Since setting up Safe Speed in 2001, Paul Smith, 51, an advanced motorist and road safety enthusiast, and a professional engineer of 25 years UK experience, has carried out over 20,000 hours working on the campaign with well over 5,000 of those hours researching the overall effects of speed camera policy on UK road safety. In addition to those 20,000 hours, Paul has funded to campaign to the tune of £10,000.
We believe that this is more work in more detail than anything carried out by any other organisation. Paul's surprising conclusion is that overall speed cameras make our roads more dangerous. Paul has identified and reported a number of major flaws and false assumptions in the claims made for speed cameras, and the whole "speed kills" system of road safety.
The inescapable conclusion is that we should urgently return to the excellent road safety policies that gave us in the UK the safest roads in the World in the first place. Far from saving lives, speed cameras are a dangerous distraction.
Safe Speed does not campaign against speed limits or appropriate enforcement of motoring laws, but argues vigorously that automated speed enforcement is neither safe nor appropriate.
Safe Speed is very slimly funded by voluntary contributions to the web site.
We are urgently seeking improved funding.
The Safe Speed web site contains more than 350,000 words of road safety analysis and information. We are seeking publishers for 'the book of the web site'.
It has turned out to be quite an amazing story and there are opportunities for journalists and broadcasters to explore how all this came about, what it means, and where road safety has gone so badly wrong.


Contact Safe Speed
================
description: Safe Speed road safety campaign
web: http://www.safespeed.org.uk/
email: psmith@safespeed.org.uk
telephone: > 01862 893030 < href="http://www.safespeed.org.uk/prindex.html">http://www.safespeed.org.uk/prindex.html
Recent press releases (since November 2004) are automatically and
immediately
uploaded to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SafeSpeedPR
=================================================================
Scrap Speed Cameras Petition: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/scrapcam
=================================================================
Paul Smith is back in North Scotland and the
phones are being 'looked at'. You can reach him
on 07799 045553. With luck the main phones and
ISDN will be repaired shortly (Still waiting).

'Super wardens' go on patrol

I am sure that there are Data Protection issues that will arise.

Meanwhile, off to buy a head mounted camera. The footage will be used as evidence in any up-coming Penalty Charge Notice challenge and complaint against the local authority:
"May I just point out that these bay markings do not comply, therefore your actions are unlawful."

Manchester Evening News

Alan Salter 23/ 5/2007
PRIVATELY-employed `super wardens' are to go on patrol in Greater Manchester wearing head-mounted video cameras.

The 20 parking attendants, who work for NCP Services, will be the first in the country to be issued with the equipment.

Their main role is to issue parking tickets but under legislation brought in last year they will also have powers to give on-the-spot fines for anti-social behaviour.

Salford council has asked the wardens to issue penalties up to £80 for offences which include littering, flyposting and allowing dogs to foul the pavement. NCP will use the film as evidence to back up their wardens if any fine is challenged and also in the event of any attack or abuse.

In some cases the footage could be handed to police and used in court.

The first wardens fitted with the RoboCop style cameras will go on patrol in Salford from the NCP HQ in Eccles next month.

The use of head-mounted cameras was piloted by British Transport Police in Manchester last year and Greater Manchester Police followed suit seven months ago in Little Hulton, Salford, when two officers began using them on the beat.

Local authorities were given greater powers to tackle anti social behaviour under the 2006 Clean Neighbourhoods Act and Salford is one of the first to take advantage of the legislation.

Coun Derek Antrobus said: "We have 20 parking attendants walking around the city and we decided that they might as well look at more than just cars. One of the biggest issues on people's minds is the disrespect that some are showing to our environment. The police have not got the resources when they are chasing criminals so this makes a lot of sense.

"We will be monitoring it very carefully and hopefully the residents of Salford will notice the difference."

NCP's James Pritchard said: "Salford council is very keen to do this and we told them that we were happy for our parking attendants to get involved but they would need a better way of getting evidence.

"The cameras will give a much better standard of evidence in case of disputes or assaults on the attendants.

"We are more than happy to work with the police and pass on any evidence we gather. It can only help them to have people out on the streets with a camera all the time.

"Our attendants do a very good job but they are not police officers and they have very specific powers. It makes the job more interesting."
What do you think of the cameras? Have your say.

This refusenik won't pay tax to 'insolvent body'

Christopher Booker's Notebook

21st May 2007



John Kelly, a retired engineer from Exmouth, Devon, is a cussed fellow. For three years he has withheld part of his council tax because he objects to it being given to what he regards as an "insolvent body". Twice he has been taken to court, and five times visited by the bailiffs, but so far not a penny has he handed over.
The South West Regional Assembly (SWRA) is one of those parts of John Prescott's legacy left high and dry when an elected assembly was rejected in the North-East. Prescott set up eight unelected assemblies, as part of his plan to divide England under regional governments, hoping to have them legitimised as democratically elected bodies in referendums.

Despite the massive thumbs down to this idea, his assemblies are still in being, costing us all £360 million a year. They have been given statutory planning powers, including the right to compulsory purchase. But without democratic legitimacy, their status looks questionable, as Mr Kelly has tried to highlight.
In particular he focused on the fact that his own assembly, the SWRA, took on 50 employees, including a liability to fund their pensions. If regional assemblies are to be abolished, as the Tories half-promise to do, who will pick up that bill? The SWRA has no assets. Technically, therefore, it is what accountants call an "insolvent body", to which it is not right, Mr Kelly argues, to give ratepayers' money.
Faced with this anomaly, the SWRA linked up with two other bodies, the South West Local Government Association and the South West Provincial Employers Organisation (SWPEO), which runs training schemes for local employers. These three were given a shared secretariat, and it was then claimed that, because the other bodies did have assets, these would cover any pension liability.
In 2004, however, the Certification Officer, the watchdog on employers' associations, questioned this arrangement. In February the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) confirmed that "there has not been a formal amalgamation of the SWPEO, the SWRA or any other body", and that the Certification Officer was still looking into the matter.
When I put this to the SWRA, the reply on behalf of its chief executive, Bryony Holden - who said she was now chief executive of all three bodies - might have come from a different planet. For a start she denies that the SWRA has any employees at all.
They all now work for the "secretariat" that manages the affairs of all three bodies. The SWRA therefore has "no pension liability". (Last year, in a letter to a local MEP, she stated that it had a "£1 million liability".) Even though the SWRA doesn't have a pension liability, the letter went on, one of the other three bodies has "ring-fenced" assets of £2.3 million, just in case a "future pension liability" should arise.
All this might sound plausible if the PAC had not determined that no legal merger between the three bodies has taken place. The Certification Officer confirmed last week that his enquiries are "still ongoing".
Mr Kelly therefore continues to say he will be happy to pay his council tax when his council can prove that its contributions to the SWRA are properly authorised. The bailiffs still haven't removed any of his goods, even though his debt after three years totals £838.
Meanwhile, the unelected SWRA continues to exercise its statutory powers, such as its plan, which has provoked uproar in Bath, to force the local council to accept an additional 15,500 houses around the city, many of them on green belt land. And if the people of Bath don't agree with the diktats of this unelected body, what are they democratically supposed to do about it?
Without a constitution the Galileo project crashes
How would the millions of owners of Navstar tracking devices, using free signals provided by the US government's global positioning satellites, feel if they had to pay a tax to the EU to help fund its own rival satellite system, Galileo? This is what would happen under the latest proposal from Brussels to bail out the most ambitious technical project the EU has ever embarked on.
Galileo was designed to establish the EU as a space superpower in its own right, and would pay for itself, in three ways. It could be used, first, to run an EU-wide road charging system; second, to charge all aircraft using EU air space, the famous "Single European Sky''; and, third, to sell missiles and other satellite-based weapons systems to China and other countries, making them dependent on Galileo.
All that member states such as Britain would have to do was put up the initial research and development funding - our bill is now approaching £500 million - and the money would then pour in. But one after another those funding schemes have fallen apart.
Galileo-based road charging proved technically unworkable. Charging airlines for using EU air space would have provoked retaliation from the US and others. The Chinese, having been made full partners in Galileo for a knock-down price, walked off with the technological know-how to set up a GPS system of their own.
The commercial consortia set up to run and pay for Galileo, seeing their potential sources of income dry up, pulled out. The only hope left, according to a "Communication" just put out by the E uropean C ommission, is to impose a levy on every satellite receiver sold in the EU, to pay for what has become its biggest white elephant.
There is another problem. The EU hasn't actually got the legal power yet to operate a GPS system. It was due under the EU's aborted constitution, which is one reason why they are so keen to get some version of it back on track. But why bother?
Galileo now seems so doomed that we may have to write off the £500 million we have spent on it, as just another of what our Government likes to call the "self-evident benefits" of Britain's EU membership.


The fastest voters in the West
One of the wonders of modern democracy is the voting system in the EU Parliament. Most of the time, voting by the 785 MEPs in their vast glass and concrete chamber in Strasbourg is by show of hands. But on contentious issues they vote electronically. Visitors gaze in awe as MEPs punch away frenziedly at buttons, deciding issues they know nothing about, according to detailed lists supplied by their whips. In this way, as many as 1,500 amendments have been dealt with in 90 minutes. Thus are the laws that govern us made.
A keen student of this system is Graham Booth, a Ukip MEP, who describes a typical occasion this month when an amendment on a report on "EU Partnership in the Horn of Africa" was said to have been "rejected" on a show of hands. A call for an electronic vote proved that, on the contrary, the motion had been accepted - by 567 votes to 17. The chairman blamed this discrepancy on MEPs not "holding their hands high enough".
When Mr Booth and a Czech colleague last year presented the president of the parliament with a list of similar blunders, calling for electronic voting to be mandatory, it was pointed out that the average two seconds longer needed to record each vote electronically might cause MEPs to miss their lunch or even their flights home. Naturally, lunch won over democracy.

Petition Calling for Royal Pardon for Metric Martyrs

Petition Calling for Royal Pardon

The Metric Martyrs Campaign is launching a petition to call for a posthumous Royal Pardon for Steven Thoburn on behalf of his wife Leigh, and children Rhys, Georgia and Jay, and pardons for the other three convicted Martyrs, John Dove, Julian Harman and Colin Hunt.

You can sign the petition here

We are eternally grateful for your support. Donations can be made here

Please forward this link to friend, family and colleagues.

Together we can make it happen.


Steve Thoburn 1964 - 2004

Metric Martyrs Victory goes around the world ...

...and as it does we would like to take the opportunity of thanking everyone who has supported us every inch of the way.

The latest news links are listed below ...


Britain can sell in pounds and ounces indefinitely - 11:12

New Business – Thu, 10 May 2007 12:20
Fish, meat, fruit and vegetables can be sold in pounds and ounces in Britain indefinitely following a new ruling by the European Commission. Additionally fabrics, carpets, timber and other building products can be sold in yards, feet and inches, and road signs can remain in miles per hour.
...hour. After lobbying by the British Retail Consortium and the British Weights and Measures Association, the Industry Commissioner agreed that dual...
Words matched: British Weights and Measures Association
Britain can sell in pounds and ounces indefinitely

New Business – Thu, 10 May 2007 11:16
Fish, meat, fruit and vegetables can be sold in pounds and ounces in Britain indefinitely following a new ruling by the European Commission. Additionally fabrics, carpets, timber and other building products can be sold in yards, feet and inches, and road signs can remain in miles per hour.


Are we really miles better off without metric?

The Times – Fri, 11 May 2007 02:06
Sir, Your report (May 9) made me ashamed to be British. Not only have we banged another nail into the coffin marked leading global economy but, ironically, we have also banged one into the coffin marked British traditions.
...PLUMB, Malpas, Cheshire Sir, In spite of ten years notice, the metric martyr Steve Thoburn did not have dual-standard scales, only imperial scales ,
Words matched: Steve Thoburn, metric martyr
EU drops forcing Britain to go metric

Los Baos Enterprise, and 3 other sources – Thu, 10 May 2007 21:22
LONDON (AP) The European Union threw in the towel Wednesday and abandoned its plan to force Britain to phase out the use of feet, inches, pounds, ounces and gallons.
...celebrated the decision as a victory for common sense, and the Metric Martyrs lobbying group said it felt vindicated for its struggle against the...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
May 10th 2007 WORLD NEWS: US lobby behind metric martyrs' victory

Economist Intelligence Unit – Thu, 10 May 2007 18:58
May 10th 2007 WORLD NEWS: US lobby behind metric martyrs' victory __ __ 2007-05-10 17:58:00 May 10th 2007 WORLD NEWS: US lobby behind metric martyrs' victory
May 10th 2007 WORLD NEWS: US lobby behind metric martyrs' victory __ __
Words matched: metric martyrs
Long campaign for sense to prevail

Western Morning News – Thu, 10 May 2007 18:13
__ 2007-05-10 17:13:00 Long campaign for sense to prevail
...(pss)) jss=1; if (jss Related stories: Victory for metric martyrs print this story to a friend Next Story Previous Story Back to list LONG...
Words matched: Steve Thoburn, Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron, metric martyrs
Briten dürfen Unzen und Pfund behalten

1&1 Internet AG, and 4 other sources – Thu, 10 May 2007 16:36
London (dpa) - Die Briten lieben ihre eigenen Maßeinheiten, und nach einem EU-Beschluss dürfen sie Unzen und Pfund auch behalten.
...Unze entspricht 28,3 Gramm; ein Pfund 453 Gramm. Die Lobbygruppe Metric Martyrs sprach von einem "monumentalen Sieg". Roz Denny, Sprecherin des...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs
Imperial system avoids the chopping block in U.K.

CNEWS – Thu, 10 May 2007 16:36
LONDON (AP) - The European Union threw in the towel Wednesday and abandoned its plan to force Britain to phase out the use of feet, inches, pounds, ounces and gallons.
...celebrated the decision as a victory for common sense and the Metric Martyrs lobbying group said it felt vindicated for its struggle against ...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
How we saved our metric measures

Evening News Norwich, and 1 other source – Thu, 10 May 2007 16:30
While many might view the European Commission's decision not to scrap pounds and ounces as a victory against Brussels bureaucrats, some traders on Norwich market today said the ruling could just lead to even more confusion.
...victory. They started their protest in 2000 after Sunderland greengrocer Steven Thoburn was prosecuted for using imperial scales, which were seized.He...
Words matched: Steven Thoburn
Metric martyr is jubilant at EU's reversal

Harlow Star, and 1 other source – Thu, 10 May 2007 15:40
A METRIC martyr is this week celebrating a European Union U-turn on plans to force Britain to scrap imperial measures. Tony Bennett, of Chippingfield, Old Harlow, is claiming victory after the confirmation yesterday (Wednesday, 09 May) that the marking of goods in both metric and imperial can continue indefinitely.
Metric martyr is jubilant at EU's reversal A METRIC martyr is this week celebrating a European Union U-turn on plans to force Britain to scrap...
Words matched: Metric martyr, METRIC martyr, Steven Thoburn
UK will not be forced to go all-metric

Sydney Morning Herald – Thu, 10 May 2007 15:21
LONDON: The European Union has abandoned plans to phase out Britain's imperial measures, a decision that will allow feet, inches, pounds, ounces and gallons to coexist with metres, grams and litres.
...politicians are calling the move a victory for common sense. The Metric Martyrs, a lobbying group, said on Wednesday that it felt vindicated ...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
EU gives up forcing metric on Brits

Calgary Sun – Thu, 10 May 2007 14:55
LONDON -- The EU threw in the towel yesterday and abandoned its plan to force Britain to phase out the use of feet, inches, pounds, ounces and gallons.
...celebrated the decision as a victory for common sense and the Metric Martyrs lobbying group said it felt vindicated for its struggle against ...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
British arrest four in '05 transit attack

SignOn San Diego – Thu, 10 May 2007 14:46
LEEDS, England British police yesterday arrested three men and the widow of a suicide bomber involved in the terrorist strike on the London transit system in 2005 on suspicion that they helped plan the attacks that killed 56 people, including the four bombers.
...celebrated the decision as a victory for common sense, and the Metric Martyrs lobbying group said it felt vindicated for its struggle against the...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs
Steve's victory for the little man

The Sun – Thu, 10 May 2007 14:31
2007-05-10 13:31:00 Steve's victory for the little man
...goods in pounds FULL INDEX TOP DISCUSSIONS May 10, 2007 GREENGROCER Steve Thoburn fought for four years for the right to sell goods in pounds...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs Defence Fund, Steve Thoburn, Metric Martyrs, NEIL HERRON
British politicians, business groups celebrate victory against metric system

CHOM 97.7, and 2 other sources – Thu, 10 May 2007 12:40
- 9:50pm World News LONDON (AP) - The European Union threw in the towel Wednesday and abandoned its plan to force Britain to phase out the use of feet, inches, pounds, ounces and gallons.
...celebrated the decision as a victory for common sense and the Metric Martyrs lobbying group said it felt vindicated for its struggle against ...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
Imperiet består

NyTeknik – Thu, 10 May 2007 12:21
Det engelska måttsystemet är räddat. Tidigare har EU krävt att "pint", "yard" och "mile" skall vara avskaffade i Storbritannien senast 2010. Men nu kovänder EUs industrikommissionär och ger "Imperial Units" evigt liv.
...Units, får leva vidare. - Det är en monumental seger, säger Neil Herron till BBC News. Han är en före detta fiskhandlare och numera kampanjledare ...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
Politician's plan to move Hadrian's Wall down a bit

Whitehaven News – Thu, 10 May 2007 11:39
CUMBERLAND has in the past been invaded by Jacobite armies. Well last week a Scots political party wanted the England-Scotland border extended to cover Cumbria.
...kept. I just hope there won't be any more need for metric martyrs and that the government will avoid forcing metrication down the public 's throat ."
Words matched: metric martyrs
EU Drops Forcing Britain to Go Metric

Marshall News Messenger – Thu, 10 May 2007 11:15
The old imperial measures will be allowed to coexist with the EU's metric system of meters, grams and liters, rather than be dropped by 2009, the EU said.
...celebrated the decision as a victory for common sense, and the Metric Martyrs lobbying group said it felt vindicated for its struggle against the...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
European Union Abandons Plan to Phase Out British Imperial Measures

FOXNews.com – Thu, 10 May 2007 10:30
Some British politicians are calling the move a victory for common sense. The Metric Martyrs, a lobbying group, said it felt vindicated by years of struggle that began when a trader was convicted in 2001 for refusing to sell bananas by the kilogram.
...British politicians are calling the move a victory for common sense . The Metric Martyrs, a lobbying group, said it felt vindicated by years of...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
Britain wins battle of inches

Chicago Sun-Times – Thu, 10 May 2007 10:15
LONDON -- The European Union abandoned its plan Wednesday to force Britain to phase out the use of feet, inches, pounds and gallons. The old measures will be allowed to coexist with the EU's metric system.
...be allowed to coexist with the EU's metric system. The Metric Martyrs group said it felt vindicated for its struggle that began when a trader ...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs
EU caves on metric, allows Britain to continue using inches

Seattle Times – Thu, 10 May 2007 10:03
LONDON The European Union threw in the towel Wednesday and abandoned its plan to force Britain to phase out the use of feet, inches, pounds, ounces and gallons.
...celebrated the decision as a victory for common sense, and the Metric Martyrs lobbying group said it felt vindicated for its struggle against the...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
Briten behalten Unzen und Pfund

oe24 – Thu, 10 May 2007 09:11
Laut EU dürfen Waren "bis in alle Zukunft" sowohl im metrischen als auch im traditionellen britischen Imperialen System ausgezeichnet werden.
...Unze entspricht 28,3 Gramm; ein Pfund 453 Gramm. Die Lobbygruppe Metric Martyrs sprach von einem "monumentalen Sieg". Gegner: Zwei Systeme "verrückt "
Words matched: Metric Martyrs
LONDON (AP) - The European Union threw in the towel Wednesday and abandoned its plan to force Britain to phase out the use of feet, inches, pounds, ounces and gallons. ....more

QR77.com – Thu, 10 May 2007 08:24
LONDON (AP) - The European Union threw in the towel Wednesday and abandoned its plan to force Britain to phase out the use of feet, inches, pounds, ounces and gallons.
...celebrated the decision as a victory for common sense and the Metric Martyrs lobbying group said it felt vindicated for its struggle against ...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
British politicians, business groups celebrate victory against EU's 'enforced metrification'

Taiwan News – Wed, 09 May 2007 20:37
The European Union has abandoned plans to phase out Britain's imperial measures, EU officials said Wednesday, a decision which will allow old fashioned feet, inches, pounds, ounces and gallons to coexist with official meters, grams, and liters.
...British politicians are calling the move a victory for common sense . The Metric Martyrs, a lobbying group, said it felt vindicated by years of...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
In Gb salve pinte, galloni, libbre e miglia

Yahoo! Italia – Wed, 09 May 2007 20:22
Pubblicità LONDRA - In Gran Bretagna esultano: pinte, galloni, miglia e libbre sono salve . La Commissione Europea alla fine ha ceduto e permettera' ai sudditi di Sua Maesta' di non uniformarsi al sistema metrico in vigore nel resto dell'Unione Europea.
il piede cosi' come la libbra e le once", ha dichiarato Neil Herron , direttore del gruppo di pressione Metric Martyrs. La lotta dei negozianti...
Words matched: Steve Thoburn, Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
Politicians and business groups celebrate victory against EU's "enforced metrification"

Taiwan News – Wed, 09 May 2007 19:33
The European Union has abandoned plans to phase out Britain's imperial measures, EU officials said Wednesday, a decision which will allow old fashioned feet, inches, pounds, ounces and gallons to coexist with official meters, grams, and liters.
...British politicians are calling the move a victory for common sense . The Metric Martyrs, a lobbying group, said it felt vindicated by years of...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs, Neil Herron
EU shelves ban on imperial measures

Metro – Wed, 09 May 2007 16:10
Campaigners fighting EU plans to abolish imperial measures have claimed a victory for pounds and ounces. A deadline of 2009 had been set for metric measures to finally replace Britain's traditional imperial measures but that has now been shelved following a change of heart at the European Commission.
...heart at the European Commission. Both the Conservative Party and the Metric Martyrs campaign group say they have won the battle to keep Britain...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs
An ounce of common sense

Manchester Evening News – Wed, 09 May 2007 10:29
MARKET traders in Manchester are celebrating after EU plans to scrap pounds and ounces were shelved. After a six-year battle, Britain will be able to keep the lb, pint, gallon and the mile after a change of heart at the European Commission.
Prosecuted The plans to move towards metric-only measures saw greengrocer Steven Thoburn prosecuted for selling his produce by the pound. Mr Thoburn...
Words matched: Steven Thoburn
Victory in imperial measures battle

Horncastle Today – Tue, 08 May 2007 09:15
Campaigners fighting EU plans to abolish imperial measures have claimed victory for pounds and ounces.
...heart at the European Commission. Both the Conservative Party and the Metric Martyrs campaign group say they have won the battle to keep Britain...
Words matched: Metric Martyrs

A busy few weeks ...

Been rather hectic of late.

Was just getting ready to launch the Parking Appeals Website when a little dickie bird told us of the European Commissions 'change of heart' on metrication. This meant that the Freedom of Information documents we were sitting on detailing the same from the DtI and the Government would have to be thrown into the pot and we could go live. (We were holding back pending release of more documents which are likely to prove even more damning).

So, on Tuesday, VE Day, the press release detailing the Metric Martyrs Victory went live and burst the May 9th Europe Day celebrations for the europhiles.

The story has gone round the world and now we begin the drive to achieve the posthumous pardon for Steve and pardons for John Dove, Julian Harman and Colin Hunt ... the only four men to ever to receive convictions under the metrication regulations.

More soon ... and more on www.metricmartyrs.co.uk

EU U-turn over imperial measures in the UK

EU U-turn over imperial measures in the UK

EU Industry Commissioner Gunter Verheugen has made a U-turn and has decided to allow UK businesses to refer to weights and measures in imperial as well as metric measurements. Under EU law, imperial measures were set to be banned from 2009.
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Metric Martyrs Victory ...

Fantastic news for the Metric Martyrs as the European Commission and the Department for Trade and Industry abandon plans for enforced metrication... ">more