....or so it seems.   I saw a very brief note over the weekend suggesting that Imperial measurements such as  miles, yards, pounds, ounces and even inches are being reviewed by Oxford University because of apparent links to the British Empire.   The University`s maths, physics and life sciences faculty has suggested that the presence of these forms of measurement may have to change as part of a `decolonising` project.

It will consider the history of modern forms of measurement which, it suggests, `are tied deeply to the idea of the Empire and imperialist standardisation.`  Interesting. Now, despite wasting away those odd years between leaving school and getting called up for National Service working in the Weights and Measures Department of a local council, I make no claim to knowing too much about the subject.

But I know enough to recall that the history of the Imperial system goes back as long as people have been measuring things.  Units like `foot` show that the system was originally based on how long objects were in relation to the human body.  And going right back in time, the `cubit` refers to the distance between a man`s elbow and the end of his middle finger.  So it all predates the `British Empire.`  And the same rather random nature of other forms of measurement - rods, poles, perches, furlongs and the rest - all go back centuries.  Indeed, the `inch` was originally the length of three barley corns placed end to end.

One thing that is true is the fact that the Imperial system was officially introduced in the 1824 British Weights and Measures Act which was the time when the British Empire was at its height.   And that timing is no doubt why the system became known as `imperial` and so maybe why the academics of Oxford are concerned with the connotation with empire that gives rise to their review.  But I find it hard to understand how on earth the humble inch and its three barley corns, along with most of the other forms of imperial measurements, might be consigned to the scrapheap for all the wrong and rather dubious reasons.  

Something`s afoot in the gleaming spires of Oxford.  Trouble is - give them and inch and they`ll take a mile. There`s a simple solution ,of course - just change the name and stop calling it imperial if that is so offensive to the wokish world we live in.