The UK government announced that pint-sized (568 ml) bottles of wine and sparkling wine, once favoured by wartime leader Winston Churchill, will appear on shop shelves, bars, clubs, and restaurants in 2024, on Wednesday, the 27th of December, reports Politico.
It is unclear how many people want to buy wine in pints, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government put forward a proposal for producers to sell wine in pint-sized bottles, citing that this is allowed under the 2023 EU Repeal and Reform Act passed earlier this year.
From 2024, the law will allow wine producers to pack and sell their products not only in 568 ml containers, but also in 200 ml and 500 ml containers.
Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake has stressed that the UK’s departure from the EU offers opportunities to support UK wineries and boost economic growth, according to a statement from the Department of Business and Trade.
Following Brexit, UK ministers considered amending laws inherited from the European Union (EU) that restricted the right of UK traders to use traditional British units of measurement without using metric units, but proposals for a wider review of the UK system were dropped following a government consultation, as 98.7% of people expressed a desire to retain metric units when buying or selling products.
Winston Churchill, Britain’s wartime Prime Minister, was fond of champagne pint bottles and the use of imperial units became a symbolic issue for Brexiters seeking to repeal the EU directive on units of measurement.
Boris Johnson promised to reintroduce imperial units in shops during the 2019 general election campaign, claiming it was “antique freedom”.
Also read: Poll: Most Britons believe Brexit was a mistake
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