UK: As Others See Us; Perceptions of Britain and the British

Read the report (pdf) here

British Council

"Almost a quarter of respondents perceived British people to be ignorant of other cultures. Whether respondents had been to the UK or not did nothing to change their idea of Brits in that respect. We can therefore assume that there is a level of truth to this perception, so more work is needed to increase contact between British people and people from other countries to remedy that".

The Telegraph

Metro

The Independent

The worst of Britain

Drink too much alcohol (27% thought so)
Bad eating habits (23%)
Too nationalistic (22%)
Ignorant of other cultures (22%)
Intolerant towards people from other countries (20%)
Rude (17%)
Unfriendly (13%)
Complain too much (13%)
Too pessimistic (11%)
Lazy (10%)

Also relevant:

Triennial Review (pdf)

 Early 1950s publication