THE Tory peer behind one of the UK’s biggest supermarkets has described returning to imperial weights and measures as “complete and utter nonsense”, as even the UK Government acknowledged its idea would baffle people.

Asda chairman Lord Rose of Monewden said the change would add to costs for shops and customers and only please a “small minority who hark for the past”.

The criticism came as the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) today published a consultation called “Choice on Units of measurement: Markings and sales”. 

Boris Johnson was reportedly keen to launch the consultation during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, in an apparent pandering to the right of his party as Tory MPs debate his future.

But the idea has already faced criticism from the Conservative backbenchers, with Rutland and Melton MP Alicia Kearns branding it “a nonsense”.

Even the BEIS consultation accepts many people are clueless about pounds, ounces and pints, and that metric weights and volumes may have to be displayed as well to help the “people in the UK who have no experience of imperial measurements”.

Lord Rose said it amounted to going “backwards”, and predicted it would be costly for those putting it in place.

Asked about the scheme, he told Times Radio: “The only polite word I can think of for your programme is, I’ve never heard such nonsense in my life.

“I mean, we have got serious problems in the world and we’re now saying let’s go backwards. Does anybody in this country below the age of about 40 know how many ounces there are in a pound?

“Are we going to go down to the supermarket and say, ‘I’ll have a pound-and-a-half please, or one pound, four ounces of this or that’?

“We’re doing it just to actually please a small minority of people who hark for the past. It’s complete and utter nonsense and it will add cost to those people who have to put it into place.

“I am shocked. It’s one thing having a crown on your pint glass, which is a bit of fun and a bit of nostalgia. It’s quite another having a whole dual system of weights and measures.”

The consultation says Brexit means the UK was no longer bound by an EU order requiring metric units to be used for all trade purposes with limited exceptions, such as selling draught beer, milk, precious metal and road signs.

The consultation’s aim  was to “explore the appetite of businesses and consumers to buy and sell in imperial units”, BEIS said.

However it also admitted that because many people have been raised on the metric system, it may have to be used alongside any imperial measures to avoid confusion.

It said: “In recognition that there will be people in the UK who have no experience of imperial measurements, the consultation also explores whether there should be a requirement for the equivalent metric measurement to appear alongside the imperial measurement where imperial units are used.”

The consultation seeks views from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but admits the Northern Ireland Protocol may stop any change of policy in the province, which remains closely aligned with the EU single market in goods..

The 12-week consultation will look at giving traders more say in how they price fresh items.

It will assist the Government in considering, for example, allowing vegetables to be sold in pounds only, or in pounds with a less prominent metric equivalent.

BEIS insisted the move would not inflict further costs on businesses as there was no intention to require them to make a change.

The UK Government announced its intention to review the rules on imperial measurements in September last year, as part of a range of post-Brexit regulatory reforms.

Business minister Paul Scully said: “While we think of our fruit and veg by the pound, the legacy of EU rules means we legally have to sell them by the kilo.

“Our consultation today will help shops to serve customers in the way their customers want.”

New Government guidance published today also helps businesses apply the Crown symbol to pint glasses, in what BEIS said would be a “tribute” to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

British pint glasses intended for measuring and serving beer used to be marked with a Crown stamp as a declaration that the measure was accurate.

But under an EU directive, from 2006 they were required to display an EU-wide “CE” marking to show they were conforming with the union’s regulations in the UK.

From 2023, glasses entering the market in England, Scotland and Wales will have to carry the new UKCA marking to show they are conforming with legal requirements.

Businesses can decide whether to add the Crown symbol, which would be purely decorative.

Mr Scully said: “This Platinum Jubilee weekend we’re raising a toast to Her Majesty the Queen’s health and service to this country. It’s a fitting tribute that we’re now helping businesses to restore the Crown symbol to pint glasses.”