It was difficult to know quite what to think about the UK Government proclaiming between Christmas and New Year that it would be using the country’s “Brexit freedoms” to enable “pints” of wine to be stocked on Britain’s shelves for the “first time ever”.

A few things came swiftly to mind.

The overriding thought was probably, “Who cares?”.

There was also a dream-like quality about it all. It was the kind of proclamation that might make people pinch themselves to see if they were awake.

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin came to mind on hearing the “pints of wine” news, as did Monty Python. Yes Minister seemed a bit tame for this one.

Dad’s Army also sprang to mind as not the best analogy for quite such an absurd announcement, although maybe it is more appropriate than some given the amount that has been written about wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill having a preference for pints of champagne.

The UK Government’s December 27 press release trumpeted: “Pint size wine stocked on Britain’s shelves for the first time ever thanks to new freedoms from leaving the European Union.”

It added: “Still and sparkling wine to be sold in 200ml, 500ml and 568ml ‘pint’ sizes in 2024. Nine hundred British vineyards set to benefit across the country from new freedoms.”

The ruling Conservative Brexiters are surely scraping the bottom of the barrel as they try to persuade people there are some benefits of the UK leaving the EU.

The Government declared: “These optional reforms…are thanks to our new Brexit freedoms via the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 and are wholeheartedly backed by industry wanting to reduce burdensome regulations. The changes will help to boost innovation, increase business freedoms and improve choice for consumers.”

Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business Kevin Hollinrake proclaimed: “Innovation, freedom and choice - that’s what today’s announcement gives to producers and consumers alike.

“Our exit from the EU was all about moments just like this, where we can seize new opportunities and provide a real boost to our great British wineries and further growing the economy.”

“All about moments just like this”?

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As businesses grapple with a skills and labour shortages crisis fuelled by the Tory hard Brexit, households bear the burden of leaps in food prices caused by leaving the EU and other inflationary effects of the folly, and exporters lament the loss of frictionless trade, Mr Hollinrake’s words seem ridiculous. And some would surely find them irritating or even offensive.

Much has been made by some arch-Brexiters of a chance to return to imperial measures - an utterly bizarre priority.

What is interesting, and something of a relief as far as it goes, is that the Conservatives have now backed off from any much radical action on this front.

You could take the view that they did not have much choice, given it turned out the Brexiters are to put it mildly far greater fans of imperial measures than businesses and households.

The December 27 press release from the Department for Business and Trade and Mr Hollinrake declared: “In addition to announcing the deregulatory measure on wine, the Government has published a response to the consultation ‘Choice on units of measurement: markings and sales’. Following the extensive consultation, the Government has decided not to introduce any new legislation in this area. But new guidance has been issued to promote awareness and use of imperial measurements.”

And the details of the response to the consultation surely underline just how out of touch the Brexiters are with the needs of business and with people’s priorities more generally.

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The Government said: “The consultation was published in June 2022 and received over 100,000 responses. Analysis showed 98.7% of respondents were in favour of using metric units when buying or selling products, either as the primary unit of sale (as currently) or as the sole unit of sale (purely metric). After careful consideration, the Government has decided not to introduce any new legislation at this time.”

At least the “careful consideration” appears to have resulted in the imperial measurements foolishness being kept largely at bay. 

The last thing hard-pressed businesses need is any more Brexit-related nonsense from the UK Government.

The fine detail of the consultation responses surely must have been even more embarrassing for the ruling Tory Brexiters.

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Under the heading of “detail of outcome”, the Department for Business and Trade and its Office for Product Safety and Standards note they received 101,108 responses to the consultation.

They say that, out of the responses they analysed, they identified 93,041 as being from consumers, 4,718 from businesses and 3,179 from academia, healthcare, government and trading standards, and other organisations.

And they declare: “The Government acknowledges the concerns many respondents expressed about possible changes to the current system used for units of measurement. Analysis of consultation responses shows that while a small minority would welcome greater choice and flexibility in the units used for domestic trade, the majority of respondents expressed limited or no appetite for increased use of imperial measures.

“Ultimately, it was decided that the arguments against making any changes, including arguments concerning consumer confusion, increased costs for businesses, and barriers to international trade, taken together with the overwhelming response against the increased use of imperial measures, outweighed the arguments in favour.

"Nonetheless, the Government did give particular consideration to the argument that increased use of imperial units could provide greater inclusivity for those more familiar with them than metric. However, the Government felt that, on balance, this concern could be adequately addressed through improved guidance to raise awareness of current freedoms to display imperial measures, rather than requiring legislative change.”

“Increased costs for businesses, and barriers to international trade” are things this Conservative Government has surely signalled it does not care about, given it had its hard Brexit in the first place.

At least on this occasion, while listening to the Tories crowing about freedoms around pints of wine has been a little irksome, the UK Government has decided not to cause further severe pain for businesses and households through its utterly bizarre crusade on imperial measures.