They still do in Germany, where surveys by senior academics have compared German qualities with those of Britons, the French and Americans. Yet we build worse houses, cars, roads, aircraft, bridges, nuclear reactors and almost everything else. Food in Britain is even worse than in America, pollsters found. In India, there has been a weary schadenfreude . The reasons given for the stream of horror stories from Britain vary.
Some commentators blame the national disease of 'amateurism'.
In the land of Shakespeare and Waugh, one in five adults is functionally illiterate,' the Journal reports. You never hear debates about ethics or morals here, just about saving money. It's no wonder the place is falling apart. The outbreak of foot and mouth disease, following the revelation that the UK had exported potentially contaminated beef after it was banned domestically, has further battered Britain's image. The cow is cross-eyed, the sheep looks deeply disturbed and the pig is clearly lunatic.