‘Quelle Horreur’: Government’s Post-Brexit Pints Of Wine Splits News Pundits

The government’s announcement that pint-sized bottles of wine will become available on supermarket shelves across the country in 2024 has divided the British punditry, as Sky News recoiled in horror, pro-Brexit GB News hailed the arrival of the “cheeky carafe.”

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) announced on Wednesday the inclusion of 200ml, 500ml, and the iconic 568ml (pint) sizes for both still and sparkling wines, alongside existing measures.

This decision, made possible by Brexit, releasing the UK from the European Union’s metric directive, marks a significant push toward a broader return to traditionally used imperial measures.

GB News hosts berated the notion of a “pint-sized” glass of wine, comparing it to “a cheeky carafe.”

Not everyone is raising a glass, however. On Sky News, host Ed Conway and guest noted that imperial measures weren’t familiar to a generation of younger Brits who grew up using metric. Taking criticism a step further they suggested the French would be affronted by the very idea of the measure: “Quelle horreur.”

Labour MP Angela Eagle accused ministers of “attempting to weaponise nostalgia for a time few can remember and even fewer wish to return to.”

Indeed, last year, under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, there was talk of reintroducing pounds and ounces for shop traders, aiming to “capitalise on the benefits of Brexit” but the government’s consultation found little enthusiasm for reverting to the more complex imperial system. On Wednesday, the DBT stated, “Following the extensive consultation, the government has decided not to introduce any new legislation in this area.”

The UK’s gradual adoption of the metric system between 1995 and 1999, aligning it with the EU and much of the world, makes this minor reform to wine measures more symbolic than practical.