Brexit: Tories demand return to imperial measurements in Northern Ireland

Former leader Iain Duncan Smith is leading calls for the Northern Ireland Protocol to be altered to allow imperial measurements to replace metric ones.

It comes amid crucial talks between Downing Street and Brussels over the Brexit treaty.

The UK Government’s Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform (TIGRR) has recommended that European measurements are repealed. But under the protocol agreed by Boris Johnson’s ministers, Northern Irish shops and stalls are required to display their products in grams and kilograms.

Duncan Smith claims the rules create a “two-speed UK”. He told the Telegraph: “All of the things we do … on the GB side must also be relevant to those who live in the United Kingdom on the Northern Ireland side.

“The TIGRR report is aimed at the whole UK, not just GB. I made that point … to [Brexit minister] Lord Frost.”

The UK adopted EU rules on weights and measurements, which require metric units to be used for the sale of fresh produce, in 2000. But some Tory MPs have pushed for the old-style imperial measurements to be reintroduced following Brexit.

Warwick Cairns of the British Weights and Measures Association added: “We can see why the EU would want to insist on goods exported from Britain to the EU following their labelling rules. But when it comes to how people buy, sell and measure goods within the UK, we can’t see how it affects them or why they would expect to set the rules.”

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Meanwhile, Brussels has signalled it is unwilling to cave to UK demands to discuss removing oversight by European judges from the Northern Ireland Protocol as post-Brexit negotiations continue.

The EU said a “very intense period of discussions” has begun but suggested they may not include the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Stripping the ECJ from the Brexit agreement has emerged as a key demand from the UK Government as it seeks to ease trade barriers between Northern Ireland and Britain.

But the EU’s proposals to slash red tape on Irish Sea trade fell short of the demand from Brexit minister Lord Frost, who is taking part in meetings in Brussels.

European Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta insisted the package proposed by the EU last week is extensive and that talks would not go much further than it.

Asked whether talks will include the ECJ this week, Podesta told reporters in Brussels: “We are following up on the package that we have proposed on October 13 – it is a far-reaching package.”

Frost is meeting with Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice-president who has been acting as the EU’s post-Brexit negotiator.

Sefcovic welcomed that “both sides have agreed to engage intensively and constructively at both expert and political level”, according to a statement from the commission.

“The EU seeks to focus on the areas that matter most to Northern Irish people and businesses, and where we can find common ground,” it added.

“Swift joint solutions would bring the stability, certainty and predictability that Northern Ireland deserves, ultimately protecting the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement in all its dimensions.”