Not giving an inch or losing a pound
The European Union abandoned its plan to force Britain to phase out yards, ounces and quarts by 2009, instead allowing the imperial measures to coexist with the metric system of meters, grams and liters.
Some British politicians celebrated the decision as a victory for common sense. A lobby called the Metric Martyrs had fought the plan since a trader was convicted in 2001 for refusing to sell bananas by the kilogram.
Britain, like most nations, officially uses the metric system. But imperial measures persist on many road signs, in stores and in pubs.
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