Something that I've been noticing for a while... it happens quite often that people in Britain talk about "going to Europe" when they mean going to places in Europe other than the UK. Another example, news articles talking about "UK and Europe" as if UK isn't part of Europe.

I know many British people hate the EU, but Europe is not the same thing as EU. So what's up with that?

Wake up already. You're part of Europe.

Possibly because the UK Is its own island and is not connected by land, also it has its own currency (POUND) while mainland europes currency is EURO, and in mainlad europe its all different countries that speak their own separate language while in UK they obviously only speak English as that where the language oriiginated. It is a bit more individual than the rest of europe.

There are other Islands in Europe (for example the capital of Denmark lies on an Island, and there are plenty others), and I'm not aware of people living in those islands pretending they're not in Europe.

Regarding currency... there are plenty of other currencies in mainland Europe. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and many other countries all have their own currency.

Regarding language, I don't really get your point. Almost every European country has its own separate language, including UK. How does this make the UK "more individual"?

Because they don't like the idea of being in Europe and still see UK as being fairly separate geography, currency, etc. plus of course some historic bias and fond memories.

Personally, I think it's a mix between a lot of things:

1. We're a seperate island. I know Copenhagen is an island, but mainland Denmark is still on the mainland, and Copenhagen is closer to the mainland than much of Britain, and it's still a very "Eurocentric" city.

2. Much closer ties to America than other European nations.

3. Own currency, still use imperial measurements, driving on the left, etc.

4. Foreign policy differences.

5. There's the "British" ways of doing things. Judicial, Parliamentary systems, etc. are very unique and different whencompared to most places in the world - systems only really used in Commonwealth nations (for obvious reasons).

6. Still holding on to the good days when Britain could hold its own.

7. Linked in to #6, the UK still has much more influence over international affairs than most countries in Europe, and in most ways, the EU as a whole - and it is more likely to go against the EU grain than say France and Germany and do their own thing.

These all play a part. As well as general ignorance - most Brits probably couldn't even name most of the countries in Europe. When I went to Andorra, for example, most didn't have a clue where that was, sometimes it's just easier to say "Skiing in Europe", or "skiing in the European country Andorra".

@Sam. Actually, Britain is officially metric. But yes due to their imperial phase they do think themselves somewhat independent of Europe.

I suppose your right dude, but what I meant by language is tlhat the is actually 4 countries not 1 all of which are grouped together and all speak the same language unlike the rest of mainland europe. But that isn't any reason its just different compared to other european countries.

Europe is too exotic to include stuffy olde Britain.

So did Portugal, no one cares about those former glories except people who always drive in reverse :P

@SamuelIRSmith: Those are reasons why the UK is in some ways different, but it doesn't really justify the pretense that the UK isn't part of Europe.

I agree with your general idea though... focusing on the differences in order to justify seeing oneself as separate.

Oh and regarding the island thing... does Ireland call itself separate from Europe as often as the UK does?

What's that supposed to mean?

Well I suppose he was joking (as I guess you were).

By the way when I said drive in reverse I meant the reverse gear, not taking a shot at the way you drive in the UK :P