[Vanders9]

True, but British Culture was very very strong - the country had been unusually successful for a very long time - and that had created a very strong collection of social bonds. It takes time to unravel something like that. I’m not suggesting there have not been many other factors - you rightly point to the hedonistic self-indulgence of the drug and “free love” sixties - but it was the first world war that started the decline.

[Cronos]

True, British culture was incredibly strong -- the English had been on top since defeating the Dutch in the late 1600s and then maneuvering against France (have you ever watched the "Yes Minister" episode where Sir Humphrey talks about Europe?)

But most people who came to the UK in the 90s or 2000s like me and my wife were shocked at how the land we had imagined had disappeared and how much of the UK seemed to us to be a bad version of the US.