[Archived] Is this a true picture...

[dave birch]

of modern day Britain?

"More than a quarter of Britons think getting drunk abroad is a national characteristic, according to a survey released to mark England's national day.

An Opinium Research poll of 2,012 British adults found that 60 per cent thought drinking tea was a national trait, closely followed by talking about the weather.

Forty per cent associated a "stiff upper lip" mentality - stoicism in the face of adversity - with being British.

Meanwhile 32 per cent thought supporting the royal family was a British characteristic, as the country gears up for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on Friday.

Twenty-eight per cent thought that getting drunk abroad was a British attribute, while fewer than one in three thought working hard made people British.

"Our research has revealed that it's hard to pin down what it means to be British," said Opinium Research managing director James Endersby.

"With several stereotypical attributes making the list as well as wider personality traits, it goes to show that Britishness is a complex mix of characteristics."

Fewer than half of those surveyed in England knew April 23 was Saint George's Day.

Just 48 per cent knew the date celebrating England's patron saint - yet 57 per cent knew that Saint Patrick's Day, the Irish national day, was March 17.

In Northern Ireland, 100 per cent of those surveyed knew when Saint Patrick's Day was, while eight in 10 in Wales knew when Saint David's Day fell.

Despite the majority not knowing when Saint George's Day was, 61 per cent of English people described themselves as English rather than British."

How do you feel about the findings?

[Mattyblue]

When is St George's Day? If you would have asked that question a decade ago, it would have been much lower than 48%, Englishness and St George's Day has defnitely come to the fore over Britishness since devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

For example, look at England fans at Italia 90- nearly all Union Flag's in the crowd- now you pretty much only see English flags.

[colin]

Dave,

There's a difference between what British people beleive and what we actually do.

I'm currently reading a book called "Risk" by Dan Gardner which looks at how we all perceive what risks we have in our lives. It rather debunks some perceptions that most of us have about life.

For example it mentions that after 9/11 many Americans didn't make journeys by plane but decided to travel by car. The resultant death rate by road accidents just about made up for another 9/11.

As most of us know the fear of our children being groomed by a paedophile is about a million times more than the actual reality.

So, in a similar vein, if we all beleive that 30% of Brits on holiday get drunk, then this bears no resemblance to the actuallity.

That said, I'm surprised by the fact that so many people don't know when St Georges day is.

It's William Shakespeare's birthday. But then my daughter told me that no-one actually knows on which date he was born, the date was just ascribed to him as being nationalistic fancy.

So, lies; damn lies; & "watch out, there's paediphile living in your street. And a terrorist."

[Paul]

I recognise most of the examples cited as being characteristic of this country, I'm not sure any of them actually define The British. On the basis of the answers I'd suggest the research company asked the wrong questions.

The tea and weather are very British but then tea is about socialising and the weather does play a big part in our lives. The last ten days have been glorious but it could rain for the whole of May.

As for the wedding? I shall be riding my bike..............

[ABBEY]

im English not British and i will taking my kids on the pleasure beach for the hoity toity wedding.

[sambo]

im English not British and i will taking my kids on the pleasure beach for the hoity toity wedding.

Hope its sunny, will be quality as it will be far quieter than usual

[Gav]

i will taking my kids on the pleasure beach for the hoity toity wedding.

I went last week, first time in 8yrs or so, they've done the place up, no longer smells of wee, but its not cheap.