Most Americans (53%) think they live in the greatest country on earth. Only 8% say there are plenty of other nations that are better. Britons are much less confident about the status of their country. Only 17% agree the United Kingdom is the best country in the world with 19% saying “plenty of other nations are better”. The US panel was asked: “Is the United States of America the greatest nation on earth?” The British panel was asked: “Is Britain the greatest nation on earth?”
Americans were much less sure about the resilence of the “American Dream”, however. 42% thought “nearly every person of every background has a good opportunity to make it to the top of business, politics or other great national institutions” but a majority (55%) agreed that “many Americans are destined to a second class status from birth and have a small chance of succeeding at the highest level.” Again, British people were much less happy with their nation. 29% agreed that every person could make it to the top in the UK but 69% disagreed.
Much to the surprise of foreigners, Britain has never had a national police force, relying instead on 40-odd local forces since the 1960s, mostly covering one or two counties, but some bigger. Mark Rowley, who runs the Met, is unhappy. Earlier this month, he called for all existing forces to be merged into about 12-15 […]
Britain is facing a crisis of confidence – a pervasive regulatory culture driven by the belief that whenever something goes wrong, no matter how minor, it must be regulated out of existence. This mindset, which seeks to eliminate risk at all costs, may sound protective, but it is profoundly destructive. Eliminating all risk means suffocating […]
This is a young Government. Labour have only been in power for five months. Yet already it has a tired, worn out feel about it. There is a sense of drift and pessimism. Every couple of days, a new sleaze scandal appears in the media. This should be the phase when ministers are swanking and […]
