Hi! My name is Daniel Smith and I constitute one half of the band The Noisettes alongside my best mate for 15 years, Shingai Shoniwa. I guess you could call me the 'Andrew Ridgeley' to her 'George Michael' (Wham! for you young 'uns) but the business of prancing about with a guitar on a big stage is a LOT of fun...
Brits don't really want to be branded. A favourite pastime might be moaning about the state of our country, but woe betide any other nationality finding fault with our home state. We have the best of everything, and sometimes the worst (I'm thinking mainly about the weather, although you can take your pick from the economy, our teeth and all manner of other stereotypical issues) but it is ours, which counts for a lot. The past week has showcased that in all its glory.
History as people will tell you, tends to be written by the winners. The winners of battles on the military field, politically and of statistics by proxy. Britain in days of yore had their empirical battles of colonialism and imperialism that led to them dominant, in thrall to no-one of their standing on the world stage for a few hundred years.