Footballers fuel a ruder Briton: poll

AFP, April, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — Britain, which long prided itself on a reputation for good manners, is becoming increasingly rude, according to a poll out Monday.

Highly-paid footballers and celebrities are setting a bad example, according to the survey, which listed spitting and swearing as the most offensive forms of behaviour.

Almost nine out of 10 people -- 86.2 percent -- think Britons have become ruder than a decade ago, found the poll for the ITV1 Tonight television programme.

"I suppose it's part of the breakdown in society, the fact that we stopped having respect for figures in authority, partly because those in authority didn't command it," said Diana Mather, an etiquette coach.

Britons traditionally liked to think of themselves as superior to foreigners at...