The wellbeing of a political tortoise came under the spotlight in the House of Keys last week.

The issue arose after news of a further delay in a review of the measurements used for the serving of spirits.

Office of Fair Trading chairman Martyn Perkins said it had been put on the backburner, partly because the licensing trade was struggling with the impact of Covid-19.

But if anyone happened to listen in to the remote meeting at the House of Keys at one particular stage last week, they may have wondered whether the members had been ordering doubles and trebles for themselves, while watching highlights of vintage comedy Monty Python.

Lawrie Hooper (LibVannin, Ramsey) had asked when a review of the measures would take place and was clearly unimpressed at the delay.

He decided to resurrect a jibe Mr Perkins himself had made about the speed with which reforms on medicinal cannabis wee being made.

Mr Hooper said: ’In the same sitting in October last year, when I asked him this question the first time round, Mr Perkins referred to the work of another department as being "like a tortoise with a Zimmer frame".

’In comparison, Mr Speaker, Mr Perkins’ weights and measures tortoise is moving so slowly you would be forgiven for thinking it was deceased.’

Never one to go into his shell when under fire, Mr Perkins said: ’I can assure the Honourable Member that the tortoise is certainly not deceased, it is merely resting.’

There was a more sober element to the verbal jousting, however.

A review of the OFT’s consumer safety and weights and measures legislation was due to have been completed by early this year but has been delayed by Covid-19 issues.

A key area of the review is the legal quantities for the sale of liquor. Last year Mr Perkins revealed the OFT favoured introducing a new metric quantity - 25ml - to supersede the current imperial quantity, of one fifth of a gill (which is one 20th of a pint or 28.4ml), for sales of gin, rum, vodka, whisky and brandy.

Other proposals on the table included the sale of fortified wines (eg sherry or port) by the glass in quantities of 50ml or 70ml, or multiples of those amounts, and that the sale of other wines by the glass under 75ml should be deregulated.

Mr Hooper said: ’Changes to these measures could help support the industry as we move out of lockdown measures and start to rebuild our economy and recover from the effects of the pandemic

Mr Perkins replied: ’The Isle of Man is unique in the respect that we actually supply our spirits in one fifth of a gill, which is 28.4ml, and traditionally the UK has supplied theirs in one sixth of a gill, which is a smaller measure, and consequently they have moved to the metric measure of 25ml.

’As a result of that, the vast majority of the measuring equipment is now in 25ml optics.

’So essentially what we are looking at is having to move across to that, among other issues regarding free pouring and certain other things.’

But, he said, there were concerns the licensing trade would be ’unduly saddled’ with the problem of reducing measures from 28.4ml down to 25ml, coupled with the expectation of a price reduction.

’As they have been very hard hit regarding Covid - perhaps one of the worst trades that has been hit by Covid - it seems a bit unjust that we would saddle them with this problem at this particular point in time.’

He said it was on the ’backburner’ but not forgotten and would be addressed before the end of the year.

l Editor’s note: Scotland traditionally sold spirits in measures of one fifth of a gill, the same as the Isle of Man.

South of the border it was one sixth.

One quarter of a gill is still used in Ireland.