The British caricature themselves as a nation of insular xenophobes. This helps to disguise the facet that they are living in one of the world’s most international countries. Saloon bar patriots may be happy to read tabloid newspaper which take every opportunity to hurl abuse at continental neighbour. But the bar itself is likely to employ Australian staff, who serve Thai food and Mexican beer to people who work for Korean companies, wear Italian clothes and -- though they still can’t manage a complete sentence in French -- are beginning to talk like Americans. The bar is also likely to be foreign-owned: a Japanese bank, Nomura, recently became the largest pub landlord in Britain.
Though ethnic minorities make up less than 10% of the resident population, Britain is one of the easiest countries to enter, despite its insistence (often quoted as evidence of insularity) on maintaining border controls within the EU. All 300 million citizens of the European Economic Area can live and work in Britain if they choose without having to fill in so much as a form. At least 18 million of them will stop by Britain each year.
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