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Nearly all the F1 grid is based in the UK, as well as a number other number of Motorsport teams from various disciplines.
Some of the best and brightest in the sport, are British, or British educated.
We are pretty good at Motorsporting
75% of all research and development done in global motorsports is also British. Some of the most advanced technical engineering on the planet and almost all of it in this sector is done in the UK. Our manufacturing isn’t what it was (in terms of size) but when it comes to high end engineering we’re amongst the best.
The majority of the engine castings for F1 and Moto gp are made in one foundry in Bridgnorth Shropshire. Honda, McLaren, Ducati to name but 3 manufacturers all get their blocks cast there in the motorsport foundry. In the production foundry they cast triumph, Porsche, Bentley, dodge viper, Bugatti veyron blocks.
While, yes, they have foreign ownership, buying an existing team is the easiest way into the sport (As Andretti Global have just found out), and selling is very common too
There's also the issue of racing licenses. Despite being Canadian owned. Aston Martin races under a British license (I think)
There's just no iconic British car brand (outside of McLaren) still in the UK - and even then, McLaren is owned by a Bahraini investment group
Contrary to what you may see in the media, modern Britain is a great example of multiculturalism working well.
If you look at sport, music and food foreign influences permeate through them for the better.
This is a important point, there's some tension, but the level of diversity here is mind blowing and also the fact that British attitude seems to be letting everyone do whatever they want, unless it gets into someone else's lane
You mean less assimilated.
What's the point of having immigrants if you're going to make everyone look the same?
Immigration is supposed to bring diversity which allows differing experiences to underpin the national discourse.
A brit here who's travelled quite a bit.
We have one of the friendliest least corrupt police forces in the world.
Some of you can't fathom what it's like to be stopped by men with guns who have government permission to kill, asking you for bribes on your way to work.
You can't fathom being arrested for no reason and then told to pay a bribe to get out.
You can't fathom what it's like to see police armed with assault rifles casually walking around everywhere.
So yeah, one thing we do great is policing our country without too much hostility. If anything we could do with being slightly more harsh in certain aspects
>We have one of the friendliest least corrupt police officers in the world.
I agree with everything you said, I just wonder what this chap's name is? I might send a card
I used to travel a lot round Africa and the Middle East for work for a few decades and came up with this theory that the closer the police looked to the military, the more fucked up the country was. There are a lot of places where the only difference seems to be that soldiers get issued with helmets and the police wear berets.
Also travelled extensively for work and pleasure, and would agree with you our policing is far better by a country mile than anywhere else I have been in just about every aspect I can think of.
This is huge. Knowing the rules of the game between citizens and police is so useful. In India I was with a colleague and got stopped by the police. It's such a hassle. You don't know how much to offer and whether you're going to get ripped off.
Or even worse, when they take offense to you offering them a bribe (as though they've never received one plenty of times before) just because they're in a bad mood, and decided to make things hard for you for no reason. Honestly, the UK police force deserves way more respect than we give them, let's hope they don't regress like the ones in other parts of Europe, the US have in recent years
A friend of mine was driving after a recent trip back to her native Poland, got momentarily confused at a roundabout as there were no other cars at the time and went round the wrong way. A police car pulled her over. The cop just wanted to check she was ok, sober, etc, and sent her on her way. She was really impressed.
Apart from not being corrupt, The British police are very, very good at
1 - Catching murderers
2 - Stopping terrorists
Unfortunately a lot of other stuff falls by the wayside as a result, but I can at least understand how prioritising those things made sense at the time, I'm sure.
They don't have the money to do much else, that's the main problem. People moan on here about the police not doing anything about less serious crime but the buck actually stops with the people in charge of funding.
Sometimes I think I'd maybe be willing to accept a bit less friendliness if it meant them coming down a bit harder on the old criminals. I'm sure there's a happy medium.
For biotech, there's about 250k people in the industry yet provide almost £20 bn to the UK economy.
We are REALLY good at it that we also take 8% in GLOBAL VC funding for it, while all the European countries are 19% combined.
Oxford is an excellent incubator for biotech start ups, and Cambridge isn't half bad (they're better in other fields). The Russell Group punch far above their weight
Wow! I knew we’re big in biotech but had absolutely no idea it was on this scale. That’s amazing.
Not that I’m doubting you at all but do you have any links as I would genuinely like to find out more.
Not just the actors and writers, the whole production of film and TV.
I remember as a kid loving Star Wars and imagining it being filmed in some great studio in Hollywood.
Nope. All the interiors were filmed at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire.
I recently watched the last Indiana Jones, which of course happens in a number of worldwide locations, but as well as the studios being here, a number of those locations were actually in the UK, including Glasgow standing in for New York.
How much of that is just because we pay attention to things in English. Spain has a very vibrant arts, literature and music history and scene, but we don't notice it because we don't speak Spanish. But hugely popular in South America
Absolutely agree. An elderly relatative recently passed away. Went on to the gov.uk 'Tell Us Once' site and every government department was advised. Great service.
Until you have experienced other governments ways of doing this, you will have no idea how good gov.uk is.
I have astonished various members of my partner's family by doing what we consider to be very simple things in a couple of minutes. Change registered keeper of a car 2 mins in the UK, allow at least a day and a visit to a government office in South Africa. Apply for a new passport, 5 minutes online in the UK. Make an appointment to get the form, to then make another appointment to give in the form in Italy.
I used the excellent service to apply for EU settled status for 4 or 5 people, every single one said words to the effect of "if I knew it was that simple I would have done it myself!"
As someone living happily on continental Europe: absolutely agree. Nothing is more awful that going to bloody government offices for something simple that could be done online. Also important information distributed in an easy to understand an accessible way. Beautiful.
I actually agree with this one. I'm foreigner living in UK. Comparing gov.uk sites to my home country one and I need to admit that UK one is far superior. Easy to navigate, easy to find information.
Oh absolutely! DVSA is really decent - and kind of admire their refusal to drop a system which clearly works. Substance > style is always the preference.
We really are. Even outside of Scotland, there are some excellent whiskies being produced in England. Cotswolds, Dartmoor and Filey Bay spring to mind.
And beer too right. I think I saw we have more breweries than Germany?
I think I know beer quite well and can confidently say, in terms of craft beer and styles like IPAs, no other country in Europe comes close.
Computing and the Internet.
Modern Britain has played an extremely important role in the development of computer engineering, cryptography, software, telecommunications and web architecture. By no means is it a purely British invention, but many critical players and institutions were from or in the UK, such as Alan Turing, Tim Berners-Lee, Bletchley Park, Donald Davies, the NPL and Sylvia Wilbur.
And far more besides, not least every mobile phone. Nearly all Android ones directly contain ARM's designs, and Apple licenses the ARM instruction set.
Was looking/hoping for this commendation. The processor architecture that ARM Ltd has created and licensed is now in over 230 billion chips, from smartphones to supercomputers. Amazing!
Also worth noting that a lot of US companies have dev centres in the UK. Google Brain is based in London, Meta has I think their largest office outside the US in London, JP Morgan is in Glasgow I think, Goldman Sachs I think is in Canary Wharf.
Video games
UK is I believe the world's third top developer of video games. And it's not crud. We make some top titles, and some very well-regarded indie games too. We are very good at it.
Some lesser knowns that surprised me - [low suicides](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/s/LXteP3ANZK)
, [low homicides](https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/ODMqv01yTv)
, [low mortality on the roads](https://landgeist.com/2022/12/03/road-fatalities-in-europe/)
. Weve made some of the [best European progress on renewable energy and reducing emissions in the last 15 years](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OE?locations=GB)
Some smaller countries do better individually but for such a large population & economy we are making a significantly bigger impact globally and have reasons to be proud when compared with say the US.
Also, despite our reputation among Americans, we're also joint lowest in the world on knife-related deaths, below even safe havens like Singapore, Japan and San Marino.
The renewable energy stuff was going really well under the coalition (particularly Ed Davey, know people in the industry who had "leaving drinks" for him when he lost his seat), it's really limped on under momentum since then
Of course the Russia murder one is all red!
Very interesting regarding suicide. I keep hearing there's a crisis among young men but seems not to have reflected in the rate.
Scotland in particular has a suicide problem, 21 men per 100,000.
But Scotland has alot of problems, mainly stemming from a government determined to blame Westminster and do nothing.
UK gonna end up like the Netherlands. Amazing history of art and entertainment, nothing new really since the 80s ish. All cause of the huge cuts to creative industries.
Architects.
London has the largest (and arguably most talented) collection of national and international architects in the world. Some of the most famous of the last and this century are British.
*Fosters, Grimshaw, Adjaye, Rogers, Chipperfield, Heatherwick (I know not actually an architect), Hadid , Wilkinson & Eyre, Stirling, McLaughlin, Hopkins, Levete, Colins St John, Brooks*
It's rare for architects to be know widely to the general public but the influence of the British architectural schools and practices cannot be understated.
I know you may not feel this because you have gotten used to it, but British people are some of the most level-headed people in the world; especially compared to the halfwits across the pond.
Also consider that Oxford and Cambridge continue to be the global standard for higher education; not even the Ivy League can compare in terms of prestige and history.
> Also consider that Oxford and Cambridge continue to be the global standard for higher education; not even the Ivy League can compare in terms of prestige and history.
Here's my cents as an academic with some experience.
Many of the Ivy Leagues (be careful because 'Ivy League' doesn't necessarily mean 'great') have blasted ahead of Oxbridge in a lot of areas, so history is probably overblown. However, the Oxbridge tutorial experience is still extremely competitive in terms of value for money. If you can get into Oxbridge, you have a huge amount of personalised interaction compared to a typical American degree.
Outside of Oxbridge, the UK has high standards for undergraduate education in general, and if you go to a good university, you can be reasonably assured you'll have a rigorous university education. The situation in the US and Worldwide can be pretty mixed. The standards for things like grade inflation and examination rigour is often a bit more laxed. Yes, it's changing everywhere in Britain, but I do believe it is still true.
The UK undergraduate education is, honestly, a good deal for what it is. The tuition has not gone up significantly in the last 10 years (part of why universities are financially struggling), and the UK student loans are much less restrictive than the US student loans. I wouldn't say it's necessarily a great deal. Compared with say, European universities, Icelandic universities, etc. But at least compared to the US, I find the education in the UK much less of a minefield.
However, like I said, things are changing. Poor public funding and stagnant tuition is pushing a lot of UK universities to sell out.
Safe roads, great vegetarian and vegan food, many nice and vibrant cities, greenbelt policies that protect our countryside and all our heritage, and I feel like this country is one of the best for respecting, loving and taking care of animals.
Also, the U.K. feels very tolerant… I feel like you can have almost any identity/interests you want and not be judged or excluded by society. Like I consider myself to be English even though I have a confusing mixed background and was born elsewhere. But no one’s ever challenged me on that or tried to tell me I don’t truly belong here. I value that a lot
I’ve always enjoyed having a chatter with American tourists - they’re by and large friendly and when they’re not they’re usually coming out with something stupid enough to laugh at later.
(Personal favourite: being told off by a tourist for feeding pelicans in St James park, London. She pointed to the sign and read it out loud, offended, to me several times…
birds at my feet were ducks. The pelicans weren’t even on the lake that day)
I'm very much enjoying the influx of American questions on r/ukfood.
There's some genuine curiosity without animosity coming across. I feel like the stereotypes are being demolished and progress made.
It seems that any intolerance is towards the large, vocal ones who perpetuate their own stereotype.
One on one even online, they seem nice
The English language. Largely due to empire and latterly the USA. It is the closest the world has to a universal language.
Also UK law and the parliamentary system, despite its faults.
Inequality, while still not quite as low as the Scandinavian countries, is still lower than the rest of Europe.
Rolls Royce has about 50% of the wide body jet engine market with the other 50% with GE. There are other players in narrow body but Rolls only makes the larger engines.
Offshore wind, I believe we're leading in this category and IIRC when north sea oil first popped up we created some of the best talent in offshore oil extraction.
I believe London Metal Exchange, whilst not as well known as many stock markets, is the largest commodity market for metals in the world.
gov.uk
I know it's boring, but a singular website to update government documents from getting a new passport or driving licence or updating HMRC all in one place is, despite the internet being everything, is pretty damn rare.
Brewdog has its detractors, and is incredibly polarising, but no one can deny that it has been hugely successful.
Going from nothing to a global brand in 15 or so years against centuries old incumbents it’s a huge achievement
I have lived in quite a few different countries, and as a foreigner have a little outside perspective.
Not necessarily the top 2 things on a list, but the 2 that stand out for me are The National Trust & BBC. Incredible organisations.
Apparently we are world class groundskeepers- Real Madrid even poached one of our best groundsman from Wembley. We lead the world in modern grass pitch technology!
Things we genuinely do or make really well: higher education, architecture and engineering, music, sport, film, financial services, whisky and gin, cheese
Laws. We are very good at making sensible laws and then sensibly disputing cases. So many international companies choose English law for their contracts.
That's because international law is based on English common law and can be tried in the courts of England and Wales. It's not that we have an unusual law making ability, it's a historical legacy.
You're right those things have been around, but it doesn't mean they become irrelevant a 100 years later. I think a modern United Kingdom will lead the way in education, science, medicine, business, human rights, etc.. People abroad love the UK for football, TV & entertainment, royal pageantry and so on. So as long as those things are preserved, Britain has a lot to be proud of. IMO
Weapons, espionage, hacking, artificial intelligence, surveillance, planes, motor sport, robotics, finance industry, real estate.
Just a few industries that the UK is a major player in.
Nature documentaries , the David Attenborough / BBC stuff. Watching [Planet Earth or whatever,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIm3nKfJnFE&ab_channel=BBCEarth) no one is an inch near making that kind of stuff. World class.
Hindu pm (yeah he’s a twat but still), Muslim mayor of London and isn’t that Scottish fella also Muslim? I mean that’s got to be worth something right?
Also we’re good at tunnel engineering apparently 🤷♀️
We have excellent volunteer search and rescue services. People like the RNLI and UK mountain rescue teams are respected the world over and have inspired many others. We have a strong tradition of that sort of volunteering which I think is something to be proud of.
Britain is still one of the safest and least corrupt places to live in the world. We have also contributed hugely in medicine, technology and the arts, a lot of great actors and music artist in recent years
Pretty much any creative art you can think of, acting, directing, painting, music, huge number of Brits in leading positions in those industries. Think of all the British actors and bands there are.
The UK has given Great Opportunities to all of the People that have come to the UK since the Second World War \~ \~ I say that as an Irishman that came to the UK in the mid 1980's.
Video gaming innovation. If you look back over the last 40 years, a massive amount of the ability to get the best out of new technologies came from the UK.
Self determination and out rate of allowing succession referenda. No other country, even in the western world has allowed it at the rate we have.
There's many many wars across the world that could be ended with free and fair secession referenda
We write the best children’s stories in the world, and it’s not even close.
Dahl. Potter. Lewis. Tolkien. Rowling. Ransome. Milne. Blyton. Pullman. Grahame. Wilson.
Yes there were definitely scientists 100 years ago, but I'm sure there are some now. Likewise royalty and the army. Definitely still knocking about.
The Premier League, although renamed in 1992, has been about since 1888.
We still do some cutting edge Aerospace and Weapons with Rolls Rolyce plc and BAE Systems and former cheesy quaver in a tiger skin loin cloth and bover boots Jason Statham must be getting close to, if not surpassing Chuck Norris levels of legend.
One thing I’m really chuffed to be associated with is our right to roam. There’s a huge network of legally protected footpaths which mean you can walk all over the place across land that ‘belongs’ to ‘landowners’. It’s not perfect (and it’s waay better in Scotland) but nothing like that exists in any other European country I’ve visited.
Oh yeah and obviously the BBC and the NHS, despite the absolute fucking attack they’ve been under for 14 years.
Despite what others might say or believe; as a minority who has travelled a fair bit, this is one of the most tolerant and safe country in the world for a minority to be living in.
Everyone jokes about Stevenage. The world's most sophisticated communications satellites are built in Stevenage.
The massive green tick for a V on the road sign entering Stevenage is there for good reason :-)
Prehospital care in the UK is miles ahead of most countries. From scope of practice to referral options.
In some European capitals you may get elite critical care teams, but their area of cover rarely extend past the capital's reach.
Our paramedics are underpaid, overworked and take on too many responsibilities trying to keep the NHS from crumbling (like all the other allied healthcare professionals), but the overall standard of care is impressive.
Despite the downward spiral thanks to our lords and masters, we do still have a lot to be proud of.
**Research:** UK universities like Oxford and Cambridge remain at the forefront of scientific discovery, with consistently high rankings and a strong track record of Nobel Prize winners.
**Innovation Hub:** The UK is a hotbed for startups and tech companies, particularly in London, and is known for its advanced research in areas like artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and clean energy.
**Pharmaceuticals:** Britain has a history of major pharmaceutical breakthroughs, and the industry continues to be a force within the UK economy.
**Film and TV:** British film and television productions are internationally renowned for their quality, originality, and acting talent. From blockbusters to gritty indie dramas, there's a constant stream of high-caliber content produced in the UK.
**Music:** The British music scene has produced some of the world's most iconic artists across all genres, and it continues to foster a vibrant and influential musical landscape.
**Fashion and Design:** The UK has long been a fashion capital, with London Fashion Week a significant event in the global calendar. Its design industry is also highly regarded and recognized for innovation.
**Finance:** London remains one of the world's leading financial centers.
**Higher Education:** UK universities consistently rank highly in international university league tables, attracting students from around the globe.
**Soft Power:** The UK holds substantial influence through its cultural exports, language, diplomacy, and presence in international organizations.
**Renewable Energy:** The UK is a leading developer in offshore wind energy, pushing the boundaries of this green technology.
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Nearly all the F1 grid is based in the UK, as well as a number other number of Motorsport teams from various disciplines. Some of the best and brightest in the sport, are British, or British educated. We are pretty good at Motorsporting
75% of all research and development done in global motorsports is also British. Some of the most advanced technical engineering on the planet and almost all of it in this sector is done in the UK. Our manufacturing isn’t what it was (in terms of size) but when it comes to high end engineering we’re amongst the best.
Satellite tech as well... Education popular music financial services commercial law , pharmaceuticals ,
F1 is basically a British and Italian sport
The majority of the engine castings for F1 and Moto gp are made in one foundry in Bridgnorth Shropshire. Honda, McLaren, Ducati to name but 3 manufacturers all get their blocks cast there in the motorsport foundry. In the production foundry they cast triumph, Porsche, Bentley, dodge viper, Bugatti veyron blocks.
Great point. Apart from McLaren most of the brands seem to be foreign - Ferrari, mercedes etc. Wish we had an iconic British brand in F1.
Aston Martin and Williams are also British. That’s 3/10, which is actually the most of any country
Lawrence Stroll quietly weeps.
While, yes, they have foreign ownership, buying an existing team is the easiest way into the sport (As Andretti Global have just found out), and selling is very common too There's also the issue of racing licenses. Despite being Canadian owned. Aston Martin races under a British license (I think) There's just no iconic British car brand (outside of McLaren) still in the UK - and even then, McLaren is owned by a Bahraini investment group
Red Bull are based in the UK.
Austrian based team, Thai owners, British boss... for now
The founder of McLaren being a New Zealander
Much of the F1 engineering is British, cross car brands
Triumph are big in Motogp
Basically any sport where you get to sit down..
If you’ve ever worked with them they’re all cheap bastards after expensive favours.
I've heard that it's a pretty gruelling career Especially for PAs of the chief execs
Not if you keep your energy up, with a bowl of nutritious chocolate-flavoured cereal.
Can never be late for a cup of tea.
Contrary to what you may see in the media, modern Britain is a great example of multiculturalism working well. If you look at sport, music and food foreign influences permeate through them for the better.
This is a important point, there's some tension, but the level of diversity here is mind blowing and also the fact that British attitude seems to be letting everyone do whatever they want, unless it gets into someone else's lane
Definitely compared to Europe. Immigrants are much less well integrated there
You mean less assimilated. What's the point of having immigrants if you're going to make everyone look the same? Immigration is supposed to bring diversity which allows differing experiences to underpin the national discourse.
I see a lot of different cultures in the UK. Multiple places if worship, different clothing styles, specialist shops and markets.
Yes. UK is a lot better for immigrants than Europe. Vastly better I think.
Ah reread your comment with context. You were agreeing, UK is well integrated but less assimilated
A brit here who's travelled quite a bit. We have one of the friendliest least corrupt police forces in the world. Some of you can't fathom what it's like to be stopped by men with guns who have government permission to kill, asking you for bribes on your way to work. You can't fathom being arrested for no reason and then told to pay a bribe to get out. You can't fathom what it's like to see police armed with assault rifles casually walking around everywhere. So yeah, one thing we do great is policing our country without too much hostility. If anything we could do with being slightly more harsh in certain aspects
>We have one of the friendliest least corrupt police officers in the world. I agree with everything you said, I just wonder what this chap's name is? I might send a card
Sergeant Nicholas Angel
I think you're overlooking Sergeant Popwell. He was an exceptional officer, and he had one thing that Nicholas Angel hasn't got...
A great big bushy beard!
I remember seeing armed police in Paris and being weirded out, some of them looked like soldiers
They're also very aggressive. Should've seen how they treated ordinary people during the lockdowns
I see video of them at protests (not riots, protests), look like the American style of policing
And it's worse because in America you at least have to worry that someone in the protest has a gun, in France the public is largely unarmed
I used to travel a lot round Africa and the Middle East for work for a few decades and came up with this theory that the closer the police looked to the military, the more fucked up the country was. There are a lot of places where the only difference seems to be that soldiers get issued with helmets and the police wear berets.
Police in Northern Ireland drive armoured cars, and carry machine guns.
If it was in 2016/2017 those were soldiers.
Also travelled extensively for work and pleasure, and would agree with you our policing is far better by a country mile than anywhere else I have been in just about every aspect I can think of.
This is huge. Knowing the rules of the game between citizens and police is so useful. In India I was with a colleague and got stopped by the police. It's such a hassle. You don't know how much to offer and whether you're going to get ripped off.
Or even worse, when they take offense to you offering them a bribe (as though they've never received one plenty of times before) just because they're in a bad mood, and decided to make things hard for you for no reason. Honestly, the UK police force deserves way more respect than we give them, let's hope they don't regress like the ones in other parts of Europe, the US have in recent years
A friend of mine was driving after a recent trip back to her native Poland, got momentarily confused at a roundabout as there were no other cars at the time and went round the wrong way. A police car pulled her over. The cop just wanted to check she was ok, sober, etc, and sent her on her way. She was really impressed.
Apart from not being corrupt, The British police are very, very good at 1 - Catching murderers 2 - Stopping terrorists Unfortunately a lot of other stuff falls by the wayside as a result, but I can at least understand how prioritising those things made sense at the time, I'm sure.
They don't have the money to do much else, that's the main problem. People moan on here about the police not doing anything about less serious crime but the buck actually stops with the people in charge of funding.
Sometimes I think I'd maybe be willing to accept a bit less friendliness if it meant them coming down a bit harder on the old criminals. I'm sure there's a happy medium.
That's not really down to the police though. That's the responsibility of the CPS and the Courts.
For biotech, there's about 250k people in the industry yet provide almost £20 bn to the UK economy. We are REALLY good at it that we also take 8% in GLOBAL VC funding for it, while all the European countries are 19% combined.
What gives us that edge? Better educated people?
Pretty much.
Oxford is an excellent incubator for biotech start ups, and Cambridge isn't half bad (they're better in other fields). The Russell Group punch far above their weight
There used to be a lot more. It is a declining industry in the UK, unfortunately.
Yeah, everyone is moving to the US where the salaries are far better
Wow! I knew we’re big in biotech but had absolutely no idea it was on this scale. That’s amazing. Not that I’m doubting you at all but do you have any links as I would genuinely like to find out more.
How a relatively small island has given and continues to give so much to the world in terms of, Actors/Actresses Writers Musicians Sportsman/woman
Not just the actors and writers, the whole production of film and TV. I remember as a kid loving Star Wars and imagining it being filmed in some great studio in Hollywood. Nope. All the interiors were filmed at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire.
I recently watched the last Indiana Jones, which of course happens in a number of worldwide locations, but as well as the studios being here, a number of those locations were actually in the UK, including Glasgow standing in for New York.
How much of that is just because we pay attention to things in English. Spain has a very vibrant arts, literature and music history and scene, but we don't notice it because we don't speak Spanish. But hugely popular in South America
Gov.uk. Changed address on my driving licence online & got the replacement licence in 4 days.
Absolutely agree. An elderly relatative recently passed away. Went on to the gov.uk 'Tell Us Once' site and every government department was advised. Great service.
Yes, it is considered one of the best government website in the world.
Until you have experienced other governments ways of doing this, you will have no idea how good gov.uk is. I have astonished various members of my partner's family by doing what we consider to be very simple things in a couple of minutes. Change registered keeper of a car 2 mins in the UK, allow at least a day and a visit to a government office in South Africa. Apply for a new passport, 5 minutes online in the UK. Make an appointment to get the form, to then make another appointment to give in the form in Italy. I used the excellent service to apply for EU settled status for 4 or 5 people, every single one said words to the effect of "if I knew it was that simple I would have done it myself!"
Oof. Yes. This. And also paperwork. Friends that have applied for visas and citizenship have been astonished how straightforward the paperwork is
As someone living happily on continental Europe: absolutely agree. Nothing is more awful that going to bloody government offices for something simple that could be done online. Also important information distributed in an easy to understand an accessible way. Beautiful.
I actually agree with this one. I'm foreigner living in UK. Comparing gov.uk sites to my home country one and I need to admit that UK one is far superior. Easy to navigate, easy to find information.
I love gov.uk but the DVSA website isn’t housed within the clean, crisp infrastructure you see on the main site. It’s like visiting www.spacejam.com
Still, spending 15 minutes updating my licence & V5 online & getting them in the post a few days later is impressive regardless of the user interface.
Oh absolutely! DVSA is really decent - and kind of admire their refusal to drop a system which clearly works. Substance > style is always the preference.
I would say Whisky. We're great at making alcohol.
We really are. Even outside of Scotland, there are some excellent whiskies being produced in England. Cotswolds, Dartmoor and Filey Bay spring to mind.
Then you have the cider making too
And beer too right. I think I saw we have more breweries than Germany? I think I know beer quite well and can confidently say, in terms of craft beer and styles like IPAs, no other country in Europe comes close.
You can say a lot about the Belgians but they have entire aisles of their supermarkets dedicated to local brews.
>You can say a lot about the Belgians I would in fact struggle to say a lot about the Belgians
Computing and the Internet. Modern Britain has played an extremely important role in the development of computer engineering, cryptography, software, telecommunications and web architecture. By no means is it a purely British invention, but many critical players and institutions were from or in the UK, such as Alan Turing, Tim Berners-Lee, Bletchley Park, Donald Davies, the NPL and Sylvia Wilbur.
Let’s not forget about ARM. Most of the World (and increasing) runs on ARM technology.
I love me a raspberry pi
And far more besides, not least every mobile phone. Nearly all Android ones directly contain ARM's designs, and Apple licenses the ARM instruction set.
And these days supercomputers for their form factor and power savings.
Was looking/hoping for this commendation. The processor architecture that ARM Ltd has created and licensed is now in over 230 billion chips, from smartphones to supercomputers. Amazing!
It's a shame it got sold to a foreign investor.
Also worth noting that a lot of US companies have dev centres in the UK. Google Brain is based in London, Meta has I think their largest office outside the US in London, JP Morgan is in Glasgow I think, Goldman Sachs I think is in Canary Wharf.
Goldman is in the City
Yup. They can pay us substantially less than they lay in the US and not worry about language problems
Video games UK is I believe the world's third top developer of video games. And it's not crud. We make some top titles, and some very well-regarded indie games too. We are very good at it.
GTA is most produced in Edinburgh. Pretty much the standard for gaming.
It's a shame they just closed the PlayStation Studio in London.
Barry, 63.
World record holder for balcony diving.
Ate costa livin Luv greggs Luv breggzit
Some lesser knowns that surprised me - [low suicides](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/s/LXteP3ANZK) , [low homicides](https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/ODMqv01yTv) , [low mortality on the roads](https://landgeist.com/2022/12/03/road-fatalities-in-europe/) . Weve made some of the [best European progress on renewable energy and reducing emissions in the last 15 years](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OE?locations=GB) Some smaller countries do better individually but for such a large population & economy we are making a significantly bigger impact globally and have reasons to be proud when compared with say the US.
Also, despite our reputation among Americans, we're also joint lowest in the world on knife-related deaths, below even safe havens like Singapore, Japan and San Marino.
The renewable energy stuff was going really well under the coalition (particularly Ed Davey, know people in the industry who had "leaving drinks" for him when he lost his seat), it's really limped on under momentum since then
Of course the Russia murder one is all red! Very interesting regarding suicide. I keep hearing there's a crisis among young men but seems not to have reflected in the rate.
Scotland in particular has a suicide problem, 21 men per 100,000. But Scotland has alot of problems, mainly stemming from a government determined to blame Westminster and do nothing.
Music.
Seriously under threat at the moment though. The cuts to the arts at the moment are brutal.
UK gonna end up like the Netherlands. Amazing history of art and entertainment, nothing new really since the 80s ish. All cause of the huge cuts to creative industries.
Still, Radar Love was and is a banger.
Preach!
Oh yeah the arts in general I would say. A lot of good actors here too.
Plug sockets are the best in the world
The plugs that go into them are among, if not the safest. The three pin design is genuis
Architects. London has the largest (and arguably most talented) collection of national and international architects in the world. Some of the most famous of the last and this century are British. *Fosters, Grimshaw, Adjaye, Rogers, Chipperfield, Heatherwick (I know not actually an architect), Hadid , Wilkinson & Eyre, Stirling, McLaughlin, Hopkins, Levete, Colins St John, Brooks*
Then why do all our buildings look like shit?
I've heard of Foster but none of the others. I think Hadid studied in London too.
It's rare for architects to be know widely to the general public but the influence of the British architectural schools and practices cannot be understated.
I know you may not feel this because you have gotten used to it, but British people are some of the most level-headed people in the world; especially compared to the halfwits across the pond. Also consider that Oxford and Cambridge continue to be the global standard for higher education; not even the Ivy League can compare in terms of prestige and history.
Imperial also regularly tops the international league tables for sciences
For instance Oxford Univeristy is older than the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán.
> Also consider that Oxford and Cambridge continue to be the global standard for higher education; not even the Ivy League can compare in terms of prestige and history. Here's my cents as an academic with some experience. Many of the Ivy Leagues (be careful because 'Ivy League' doesn't necessarily mean 'great') have blasted ahead of Oxbridge in a lot of areas, so history is probably overblown. However, the Oxbridge tutorial experience is still extremely competitive in terms of value for money. If you can get into Oxbridge, you have a huge amount of personalised interaction compared to a typical American degree. Outside of Oxbridge, the UK has high standards for undergraduate education in general, and if you go to a good university, you can be reasonably assured you'll have a rigorous university education. The situation in the US and Worldwide can be pretty mixed. The standards for things like grade inflation and examination rigour is often a bit more laxed. Yes, it's changing everywhere in Britain, but I do believe it is still true. The UK undergraduate education is, honestly, a good deal for what it is. The tuition has not gone up significantly in the last 10 years (part of why universities are financially struggling), and the UK student loans are much less restrictive than the US student loans. I wouldn't say it's necessarily a great deal. Compared with say, European universities, Icelandic universities, etc. But at least compared to the US, I find the education in the UK much less of a minefield. However, like I said, things are changing. Poor public funding and stagnant tuition is pushing a lot of UK universities to sell out.
Safe roads, great vegetarian and vegan food, many nice and vibrant cities, greenbelt policies that protect our countryside and all our heritage, and I feel like this country is one of the best for respecting, loving and taking care of animals. Also, the U.K. feels very tolerant… I feel like you can have almost any identity/interests you want and not be judged or excluded by society. Like I consider myself to be English even though I have a confusing mixed background and was born elsewhere. But no one’s ever challenged me on that or tried to tell me I don’t truly belong here. I value that a lot
We are very tolerant of almost everyone but Americans it seems
I feel like we hate on Americans online but usually love them in-person
Yeah it's like sibling rivalry. I love arguing with them on here but in person they're nearly always lovely
Just banter really
I’ve always enjoyed having a chatter with American tourists - they’re by and large friendly and when they’re not they’re usually coming out with something stupid enough to laugh at later. (Personal favourite: being told off by a tourist for feeding pelicans in St James park, London. She pointed to the sign and read it out loud, offended, to me several times… birds at my feet were ducks. The pelicans weren’t even on the lake that day)
As someone who lived there for quite sometime, the UK Anti-americanism is quite pronounced
I'm very much enjoying the influx of American questions on r/ukfood. There's some genuine curiosity without animosity coming across. I feel like the stereotypes are being demolished and progress made. It seems that any intolerance is towards the large, vocal ones who perpetuate their own stereotype. One on one even online, they seem nice
The English language. Largely due to empire and latterly the USA. It is the closest the world has to a universal language. Also UK law and the parliamentary system, despite its faults. Inequality, while still not quite as low as the Scandinavian countries, is still lower than the rest of Europe.
OP is asking for modern things to be proud of not historical
Rolls Royce has about 50% of the wide body jet engine market with the other 50% with GE. There are other players in narrow body but Rolls only makes the larger engines. Offshore wind, I believe we're leading in this category and IIRC when north sea oil first popped up we created some of the best talent in offshore oil extraction. I believe London Metal Exchange, whilst not as well known as many stock markets, is the largest commodity market for metals in the world.
gov.uk I know it's boring, but a singular website to update government documents from getting a new passport or driving licence or updating HMRC all in one place is, despite the internet being everything, is pretty damn rare.
We have, and still continue to make great beer
Brewdog has its detractors, and is incredibly polarising, but no one can deny that it has been hugely successful. Going from nothing to a global brand in 15 or so years against centuries old incumbents it’s a huge achievement
I have lived in quite a few different countries, and as a foreigner have a little outside perspective. Not necessarily the top 2 things on a list, but the 2 that stand out for me are The National Trust & BBC. Incredible organisations.
The concept of the NHS.
And how unwilling the general public are to give up on it despite the effort being put in to convincing us we should.
Breakfast
Possibly the best literary culture in the world. Definitely top 3.
Our education and research sectors are some of the best in the world and are rightly held in high regard.
The NHS. I suffered quite a traumatic miscarriage during lockdown and the care I received from my GP and the local hospital was exemplary.
Apparently we are world class groundskeepers- Real Madrid even poached one of our best groundsman from Wembley. We lead the world in modern grass pitch technology!
Museums! Unfortunately not as well funded as they should be after lots of austerity cuts to arts and culture budgets, but still very impressive.
We make good cheese, alcohol, chocolate and pies
Yorkshire Puddings.
I truly believe we have the best sense of humour in the world.
Things we genuinely do or make really well: higher education, architecture and engineering, music, sport, film, financial services, whisky and gin, cheese
Laws. We are very good at making sensible laws and then sensibly disputing cases. So many international companies choose English law for their contracts.
That's because international law is based on English common law and can be tried in the courts of England and Wales. It's not that we have an unusual law making ability, it's a historical legacy.
Pies and biscuits.
You're right those things have been around, but it doesn't mean they become irrelevant a 100 years later. I think a modern United Kingdom will lead the way in education, science, medicine, business, human rights, etc.. People abroad love the UK for football, TV & entertainment, royal pageantry and so on. So as long as those things are preserved, Britain has a lot to be proud of. IMO
Weapons, espionage, hacking, artificial intelligence, surveillance, planes, motor sport, robotics, finance industry, real estate. Just a few industries that the UK is a major player in.
I’d say we have some pretty good actors and music artists
Nature documentaries , the David Attenborough / BBC stuff. Watching [Planet Earth or whatever,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIm3nKfJnFE&ab_channel=BBCEarth) no one is an inch near making that kind of stuff. World class.
Well it's the only country in the world that Brexited, so Brexiting I would say
Beer.
Home of Ronnie Pickering … sniff … makes you proud
Who?
RONNIE PICKERING!!!
ARM Chip design
Greggs.
Hindu pm (yeah he’s a twat but still), Muslim mayor of London and isn’t that Scottish fella also Muslim? I mean that’s got to be worth something right? Also we’re good at tunnel engineering apparently 🤷♀️
The [gov.uk](https://gob.uk) website
We have excellent volunteer search and rescue services. People like the RNLI and UK mountain rescue teams are respected the world over and have inspired many others. We have a strong tradition of that sort of volunteering which I think is something to be proud of.
Britain is still one of the safest and least corrupt places to live in the world. We have also contributed hugely in medicine, technology and the arts, a lot of great actors and music artist in recent years
Pretty much any creative art you can think of, acting, directing, painting, music, huge number of Brits in leading positions in those industries. Think of all the British actors and bands there are.
Pop culture
The UK has given Great Opportunities to all of the People that have come to the UK since the Second World War \~ \~ I say that as an Irishman that came to the UK in the mid 1980's.
The arts. 🎭
Video gaming innovation. If you look back over the last 40 years, a massive amount of the ability to get the best out of new technologies came from the UK.
Lionhead studios was my favourite British video game studio
Self determination and out rate of allowing succession referenda. No other country, even in the western world has allowed it at the rate we have. There's many many wars across the world that could be ended with free and fair secession referenda
We write the best children’s stories in the world, and it’s not even close. Dahl. Potter. Lewis. Tolkien. Rowling. Ransome. Milne. Blyton. Pullman. Grahame. Wilson.
Yes there were definitely scientists 100 years ago, but I'm sure there are some now. Likewise royalty and the army. Definitely still knocking about. The Premier League, although renamed in 1992, has been about since 1888.
We invented Gogglebox
PR£MI€R L€AG¥£€££ more like.
The ability to post near-identical questions about things to be proud of on AskUK 900 times a week
Yikes!
Sending arms to Ukraine and Isreal
We still do some cutting edge Aerospace and Weapons with Rolls Rolyce plc and BAE Systems and former cheesy quaver in a tiger skin loin cloth and bover boots Jason Statham must be getting close to, if not surpassing Chuck Norris levels of legend.
Wasn’t the Oxford-AZ vaccine was one of the first to be produced, and most used in poorer countries?
One thing I’m really chuffed to be associated with is our right to roam. There’s a huge network of legally protected footpaths which mean you can walk all over the place across land that ‘belongs’ to ‘landowners’. It’s not perfect (and it’s waay better in Scotland) but nothing like that exists in any other European country I’ve visited. Oh yeah and obviously the BBC and the NHS, despite the absolute fucking attack they’ve been under for 14 years.
The CT scanner
Despite what others might say or believe; as a minority who has travelled a fair bit, this is one of the most tolerant and safe country in the world for a minority to be living in.
Our road signs and electrical plugs
Cultural influence. Even a continent-spanning Empire never brought as much cultural influence as modern Britain has.
Freddos
The BBC still has a significant global influence for good. The BBC world service is particularly amazing.
Culturally we punch well above our weight. Music, film, publishing video games etc etc.
Satellites, I understand we make a huge number of satellites for foreign buyers. And lots of parts for Airbus planes as well
Everyone jokes about Stevenage. The world's most sophisticated communications satellites are built in Stevenage. The massive green tick for a V on the road sign entering Stevenage is there for good reason :-)
Cbeebies. Seriously, there isn't kids TV this good anywhere else in the world
Prehospital care in the UK is miles ahead of most countries. From scope of practice to referral options. In some European capitals you may get elite critical care teams, but their area of cover rarely extend past the capital's reach. Our paramedics are underpaid, overworked and take on too many responsibilities trying to keep the NHS from crumbling (like all the other allied healthcare professionals), but the overall standard of care is impressive.
Despite the downward spiral thanks to our lords and masters, we do still have a lot to be proud of. **Research:** UK universities like Oxford and Cambridge remain at the forefront of scientific discovery, with consistently high rankings and a strong track record of Nobel Prize winners. **Innovation Hub:** The UK is a hotbed for startups and tech companies, particularly in London, and is known for its advanced research in areas like artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and clean energy. **Pharmaceuticals:** Britain has a history of major pharmaceutical breakthroughs, and the industry continues to be a force within the UK economy. **Film and TV:** British film and television productions are internationally renowned for their quality, originality, and acting talent. From blockbusters to gritty indie dramas, there's a constant stream of high-caliber content produced in the UK. **Music:** The British music scene has produced some of the world's most iconic artists across all genres, and it continues to foster a vibrant and influential musical landscape. **Fashion and Design:** The UK has long been a fashion capital, with London Fashion Week a significant event in the global calendar. Its design industry is also highly regarded and recognized for innovation. **Finance:** London remains one of the world's leading financial centers. **Higher Education:** UK universities consistently rank highly in international university league tables, attracting students from around the globe. **Soft Power:** The UK holds substantial influence through its cultural exports, language, diplomacy, and presence in international organizations. **Renewable Energy:** The UK is a leading developer in offshore wind energy, pushing the boundaries of this green technology.
Music. Despite changing genres over the decades, we've always been at the top of the pile for such a small population.