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We had heard much from Eurropean Trade and Industry Commissioner, Gunther Verheugen which led to press and media headlines of ‘imperial measures have been saved.’
Verheugen blamed British officials for prosecuting the Metric Martyrs, claiming that the Commission had not banned market traders and small shopkeepers from using non-metric measures.
He was quoted:
" That is very much a local issue which has nothing to do with the EU.
As far as we are concerned people trading in loose goods, in markets and local shops are not obliged to show even metric units."
Seems clear enough right? Think that after all that fuss before that someone could sell items in imperial? Well no.
But what is really frightening about this is the fact that a/ we were led to believe that Imperial was legal again and b/ the almost total lack of coverage that this has received from the media.
Mrs Devers, has been ordered to appear before Bow Street magistrates’ court a week tomorrow, January 18th to answer up to 13 ‘criminal’ charges. But and this is where it gets nasty, the jobs worths have also made it clear that if she looses the case, she could face having to pay the massive costs of the prosecution. Costs so far on or about £2,000.
Ignored by the media, it seems that we now have a new Metric Martyr in the making.
Janet Devers, a 63-year-old East End market trader, was warned a week ago that she faces criminal prosecution for selling apples and tomatoes by the pound rather than in the kilograms required by EU and UK law. Mrs Devers, who runs a stall in Ridley Road, Hackney, is the sister of Colin Hunt, one of the five original martyrs whose conviction for the crime of selling in non-metric measures was upheld by the High Court in 2002.
What makes the media's failure to report this so odd is that it gives the lie to the claim, trumpeted two weeks ago by almost every newspaper in the land, that Brussels had somehow given the Metric Martyrs a historic victory by allowing us to continue selling in pounds and ounces indefinitely.
Gunther Verheugen, a vice-president of the EU Commission, even issued a statement denying that this had ever been prohibited, accusing Britain's press of having "repeatedly and erroneously published stories" about "people having to buy their food from markets in kilograms rather than pounds".
It might therefore have been of some interest to the press that, only two days later, Hackney council officials, with the police in support, should again have seized Mr Hunt's non-metric scales - which he only uses in response to the wishes of his largely black customers - and a week later should have summoned his sister for police interview, preparatory to prosecuting her under the very law whose existence Mr Verheugen denied.
What makes Hackney's action even odder is that, although the council boasts that it enforces the law "with consistency", some 20 other traders in the same market are still selling in non-metric measures with impunity. Other breaches of the law abound, from selling cheap clothing illegally carrying football club logos to offences against hygiene regulations, again without the council taking any action.
The fact is that it is still just as illegal to sell a pound of apples as it has been since 2000, when Steve Thoburn became the first trader in the country to be prosecuted. Until both Brussels and Whitehall change the law, that will remain true.
We can only assume that the reason for the media's curious silence over Hackney's action is that it shows just how easily fooled they were in falling for Mr Verheugen's fibs.
**Indeed and Mr Verheugen has his own site here where the views and spin of the EU are put across, and should anyone wish to help Janet Devers, they should contact the Metric Martyrs Defence Fund.
Neil Herron, Metric Martyrs Defence Fund, PO Box 526, Sunderland SR1 3YS
E-mail: metricmartyrs@btconnect.com
Tel: 0191 565 7143
The Metric Martyrs site has some more details on this.
Tags: metric martyrs, janet devers, Gunther Verheugen, EU lies
5 people have spoken:
Makes me weep. I work just around the corner from Ridley Road market and can confirm a quick walk along the market you can see illegal african food stuffs, live giant african snails, rancid meat for sale, fake clothes and electrical goods. I even saw Olympic 2012 t-shirts for sale the other day. To pick on a English pensioner is just typical of Hackney Council. They wouldn't dare touch any of the immigrant run stalls. They should be ashamed of their behaviour
Agree with ya Jules, all we can do is complain about the dictator style tactics of the powers that be.
Welcome to Nazi Britain, theres worse to come.
Thats New Labour and the EU - evil socialist scum at their worst.
Indeed, the market is almost entirely pounds and ounces, with a bit of tiny metrick conversions to keep the hitlers form the Trading Standards at bay.
She's also been charged with selling bowls, but not stating how many peppers &c are in the bowl! NEVER seen a bowl which mentions the number. Sheer victimisation.
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