ENGLISH_THE. (J.Paxman)

Not so long ago, writes Jeremy Paxman, the English were 'polite, unexcitable, reserved, and had hot-water bottles instead of a sex-life'. Today the end of empire has killed off the Bulldog Breed - 'fearless and philistine, safe in taxis and invaluable in shipwrecks' - and transformed the great public schools. Princess Diana was mourned with the effusive emotionalism of an Italian saint. Leader-writers in The Times even praise the sexual skills of English lovers ...