You can write to your MP to express your concern about Britain’s measurement unit mess or about specific issues such as consumer protection, education, health, jobs and motoring. You influence politicians through your voting power. Express your views on metrication and at the very least he or she will realise that they have pro-metric constituents.

Some MPs can be reached by e-mail (usually their e-mail addresses follow the format lastnamefirstinitial@parliament.uk), alternatively the postal address of the House of Commons is

House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

If you are not sure of the name of your MP refer to the directory of MPs on the UK parliament web site.

If you know that a vote is coming up in Parliament on an issue affecting metrication, write to your MP to asking him/her to vote the way you would like.

MPs are particularly sensitive to their constituents in the run up to an election. In that timeframe it can always be worth canvassing several candidates.

How much time do you have?

If you only have say just 5 minutes to sort out a letter, feel free to use some of UKMA’s sample letters. Just fill out the missing information, print and send.

However, if you can spare a bit more time obviously it is better if you add your own points or experiences by customising the examples or expressing the points in your own words.

If you have say 30 minutes to write a letter expressing your own individual concerns, please take advantage of UKMA’s key issues page. This aims to help you by providing useful facts and figures in one place.

Stand up for your consumer rights

Britain’s measurement units muddle means that consumers can often be confused, and ripped off, with differing measurement units. Sometimes retailers illegally price goods in imperial units because they sound cheaper than the metric equivalent. In other cases, due to poorly implemented regulation consumers can be confused and misled quite legally.

Check out UKMA’s shopping pages for advice and on how to complain.

The bottom line is, if you are not told weights and measurements in metric units ask for them!

Speak Out!

We live in an open society. Your voice is as important as everyone else's. A strident minority in the country speaks out to hinder metrication. It is time for Britain's metric supporters to speak up to get their view across.

There are many opportunities for you to get your view across especially in the news media. UKMA provides contact information for the main broadcasters and newspapers on this website.

Additionally there are plenty of opportunities to speak out on unit usage in periodicals on topics as diverse as food, motoring, property and outdoor activities.

Use Metric

You influence others through your conversation. If you use metric quantities in everyday life rather than always converting back to imperial, you help others to understand metric values. You may even embolden others to "talk metric". Don't be afraid to use metric units in everyday conversations - it is after all logical and easy. Phrases like 'I've lost three kilos in a month', 'my child's grown six centimetres in the last year', and 'it happened just metres from where we were standing' show examples of the use of straightforward metric units which most people will understand. Most people are already comfortable using metric units, e.g. a litre of orange juice or wine, 35 mm film, fabric by the metre, and athletics in hundreds of metres.

If you are a parent, ensure that you discuss everyday measurements with your children in metric. This will help reinforce what they are learning at school. Unfortunately this may be undermined by the dominance of imperial in the media. But don't be intimidated, helping children to understand metric measurement will help their maths, geography as well as science.

Equip yourself with metric measuring equipment. Switch your bathroom scales to kilograms, get yourself a metric tape measure and try to cook with metric measures. If you feel unfamiliar with using metric try our practical help section. Once you have been used to measuring in metric for a while, you will find it easier than imperial - especially if you need to calculate something.

Others

If you have followed up on any of the above suggestions would you consider joining UKMA or donating money?

Many thanks for your support!